Call for Abstracts
2026 Wakefield Symposium

Marine heatwaves at high latitudes: Tools for tracking and supporting fisheries resilience

We invite fishery researchers, managers, and other professionals to attend the 2026 Wakefield Fisheries Symposium to share knowledge, experience, and learn about marine heatwaves at high latitudes. This interactive symposium will explore the impacts of extreme warming events on high-latitude fisheries and highlight tools and strategies to build resilience in fishery management. Participants worldwide are invited to share case studies so that we can compare approaches across regions and learn from each other.

Oral sessions will focus on three key themes related to marine heatwaves: 1) climate, oceanography, and ecosystem dynamics, 2) species-focused case studies, and 3) management responses and adaptation strategies. There will also be a general poster session.

Theme 1: The Big Picture—Climate, Oceanography, and Ecosystem Dynamics

This theme takes a broad look at marine heatwaves from climate and oceanographic perspectives, examining how extreme warming events reshape marine ecosystems at high latitudes. Presentations will explore physical and ecological processes driving these changes, including retrospective and comparative approaches that illuminate causative mechanisms for heatwaves and broad ecosystem impacts. Topics may include physical processes, cross-system comparisons, shifts in food web dynamics, species interactions, and ecosystem capacity under sustained heat stress. The session aims to frame the global context for better understanding marine heatwaves in high-latitude ecosystems.

Theme 2: Species Responses—Case Studies of Heatwave Impacts

Focusing on specific species affected by marine heatwaves, this theme highlights case studies that capture ecological, economic, and social dimensions of marine heatwave impacts. Species of particular interest include snow crab, Pacific cod, and salmon populations, though studies of other high-latitude species are encouraged. Contributions may integrate physical and biological sciences as well as social, cultural, and economic dimensions to explore fisheries and community vulnerability. Case studies from Alaska and other high-latitude regions are especially welcome to reveal shared challenges and region-specific responses.

Theme 3: Managing in a Changing Ocean—Adaptive Strategies for Resilience

This forward-looking theme centers on management and community responses to marine heatwaves and explores strategies for building future resilience within fishery systems. Presentations and discussions will address how management, science, and fishing communities can work together to adapt in real time to rapid ecological change. Topics may include adaptive harvest control rules, dynamic fishery closures, seafood marketing, tools to incorporate socioeconomic considerations into management, and other innovative approaches that integrate climate forecasting, ecological data, and socioeconomic considerations. The session invites insights from fishery managers, scientists, and community practitioners on how to turn lessons from recent disruptions into future adaptive frameworks.

Abstract submission

Abstract submission for the conference has closed. Those who submitted abstracts will be notified in early March about abstract acceptance. If your abstract is accepted for presentation, you must register and pay the symposium fee by March 30 to secure a place on the program.