Past Symposia

The series is named in honor of Lowell Wakefield and his many contributions to Alaska's fisheries. Wakefield, regarded as the founder of the Alaska king crab industry, recognized that for the fishery to survive, superb quality seafood products must be provided to the consumer, and resource management must be based on the best available scientific data.

Presentation and poster files from the 2017 Symposium, Impacts of a Changing Environment on the Dynamics of High-latitude Fish and Fisheries, are available for download.

Please contact us for more information or specific documents related to past Symposia.

History

Since its inception, the Wakefield symposium series has addressed subjects that are timely and key to the understanding and management of commercially harvested marine species. Topics have included:

Biology, ecology, and economics of crabs, rockfishes, pollock, flatfishes, and herring
Genetics of subpolar fish and invertebrates
Management strategies for exploited fish populations, fishery stock assessment models, ecosystem considerations, and spatial processes and management of fish populations
The effects of climate change on species and fishery management

Published proceedings

Proceedings 1989-present Out of print proceedings

Proceedings 1989-present

2017: Impacts of a Changing Environment on the Dynamics of High-latitude Fish and Fisheries

2016: Assessing and Managing Data-Limited Fish Stocks

2015: Fisheries Bycatch: Global Issues and Creative Solutions

2013: Responses of Arctic Marine Ecosystems to Climate Change

2012: Fishing People of the North: Cultures, Economies, and Management Responding to Change

2012: Global Progress in Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management

2009: Biology and Management of Exploited Crab Populations under Climate Change

2006: Resiliency of Gadid Stocks to Fishing and Climate Change

2005: Biology, Assessment, and Management of North Pacific Rockfishes

2004: Sea Lions of the World: Conservation and Research in the 21st Century

2003: Fisheries Assessment and Management in Data-Limited Situations

2002: Genetics of Subpolar Fish and Invertebrates

2001: Crabs in Cold Water Regions: Biology, Management, and Economics

2000: Herring: Expectations for a New Millennium

1999: Spatial Processes and Management of Fish Populations

1998: Ecosystem Approaches for Fisheries Management

1997: Fishery Stock Assessment Models*

1996: Forage Fishes in Marine Ecosystems

1995: Biology, Management, and Economics of Crabs from High Latitude Habitats

1994: North Pacific Flatfish

1993: Genetics of Subarctic Fish and Shellfish*

1992: Management Strategies for Exploited Fish Populations

1990: International Herring Symposium

1989: King and Tanner Crabs*

*Out of print but available from the National Sea Grant Library

Out of print proceedings

1988: Biology and Management of Walleye Pollock. Over 80 scientists from Russia, Japan, Canada, Korea, Poland, and the United States met in Anchorage, Alaska, in 1988 to discuss the biology and management of walleye pollock, a white fish that is important to U.S. fishermen and processors for products such as surimi. The proceedings includes 43 papers on reproduction and life history, feeding and growth, recruitment, stock structure and assessment, ecosystem interaction, and management. Data on the distribution of pollock in Russian waters, previously inaccessible to Americans, were released in the book.

1986: International Rockfish Symposium. The 24 papers in this volume address history of the fisheries, life history and reproduction, growth and mortality, stock assessment, and management of rockfishes. Management plans in the Gulf of Maine, Oregon, Washington, the Aleutians, and British Columbia are also included.

1986: Seafood Quality Determination. Researchers and industry representatives discussed quality standards for fishery products and how seafood quality can be measured. The peer-reviewed proceedings has papers on instrumental measurements of quality, sensory evaluation, chemical and biochemical indices, microbiological evaluation, public health hazards associated with seafood, shelf-life estimation, nutritional aspects of seafood quality, consumer perception of seafood quality, and seafood quality standards. Published by Elsevier Science Publishers.

1985: International King Crab Symposium. This highly valued species, once the basis of a profitable Alaska fishery, became scarce in the early 1980s. The symposium was held to focus research efforts on explaining the population fluctuation. Papers by scientists from the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Chile, Argentina, and Russia included distribution, taxonomy, life history, mortality factors, economics, and management.

1984: Dungeness Crab Biology and Management. In the early 1980s, stocks of Dungeness crab, Cancer magister, declined in California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, while the Dungeness fishery in Alaska increased. This symposium reviewed the biology and management of the Dungeness crab in relation to the decline. The proceedings has papers on management, life history, mortality, population dynamics, tag recovery, feeding and morphometrics, Yakutat fishery year classes, and insecticides in Dungeness estuaries.

1983: International Sablefish Symposium. Researchers convened to discuss the enhancement of the sablefish fishery and management of this important commercial species. The proceedings includes 22 papers on management, age-growth studies, reproduction, migration and stock structure, and stock assessment techniques.

1982: International Symposium on the Genus Chionoecetes. Chionoecetes crabs support commercial fisheries in the northwest Atlantic, North Pacific, and the Bering Sea. These fisheries are regulated and managed by Canada, Japan, the United States, and Russia. To increase information exchanges among scientists and managers in these nations, the International Symposium on the Genus Chionoecetes was held in Anchorage, Alaska, in 1982. Over 30 papers cover an overview of fisheries, biology, tagging, effects of harvesting, mortality, and population estimation.