SANCOR Newsletter Issue #168: October 2001
FISHY BUSINESS IN DURBAN
By Lynnath Beckley
The 6th Indo-Pacific Fish Conference has held in Durban from 20-25th May 2001 and attracted some 250 delegates from 34 countries, many of whom were visiting Africa for the first time. The conference was hosted by the Oceanographic Research Institute, in collaboration with scientists from the Natal Sharks Board, JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology and the South African Museum.
The conference was officially opened on the evening of Sunday 20th May by Dr Ben Ngubane, national minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology during an "Out of Africa" show at Sea World which highlighted the cultural diversity of South Africa and Durban, in particular. On Monday, the delegates got down to serious business and the first plenary session was preceded by the introduction of a special guest to the assembled delegates. This was none other than the sprightly, 94 year-old, Dr Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer who saved the first coelacanth for science way back in 1938.
Dr Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, special guest on the opening day of the 6th Indo-Pacific Fish Conference, saying a few words about the first coelacanth known to science. Left to right: Dr Courtenay-Latimer, Dr Paul Skelton (Director JLB Smith Institute), Dr Lynnath Beckley (Chairperson: 6th IPFC) and Dr Jack Randall (invited plenary speaker). (Photo: Rudy van der Elst)
Dr Jack Randall from Hawaii, and doyen of Indo-Pacific fish scientists, was the invited plenary speaker and he set the scene by presenting a pictorial overview of coastal fishes in the Western Indian Ocean highlighting the diversity and endemism of fishes in the region. Dr Lynnath Beckley then presented a synopsis of marine ichthyology in South Africa discussing the oceanography of the sub-continent, the accumulation of knowledge about South African fishes and the biogeography of coastal fishes. Dr Kent Carpenter completed the plenary session by elucidating the recent advances in the study of phylogenetic pattern in sparid fishes based on both morphological and molecular evidence. This paper was particularly relevant to South Africa as we boast the highest diversity of sparid fishes in the world and the results challenge the traditional delineation of sub-families by dentition patterns.
The 162 oral papers on offer at the conference were split into various symposia and presented in three parallel sessions over four days. However, in order that delegates got a sampling of all symposia, 15 papers were selected for presentation at the early morning plenary sessions throughout the week. In addition, on Tuesday evening, a well-attended poster session (no doubt bolstered by the liberal dispensing of products from the Coelacanth Brewery!) did justice to a further 51 poster presentations by conference delegates. Overall, South African scientists and students were well to the fore with no fewer than 35 oral presentations and 10 posters.
The various symposia and convenors were as follows:
Coastal and reef fishes
(Dr Sean Fennessy) - 49 oral papers which comprised a wide array of topics such as biodiversity of Western Indian Ocean reef fishes (including coelacanths), age and growth, reproduction and spawning aggregations, feeding ecology, fish behaviour and the impacts of various factors such as coral bleaching on fish diversity Deep-sea fishes
(Dr Eric Anderson) - 11 oral papers dealing with deep-sea fishes of New Zealand, Red Sea, orange roughy, whalefishes and systematics of several genera Pelagic fishes
(Dr Butch Hulley) - 5 oral papers covering clupeids, tuna and lantern fishes Systematics
(Dr Phil Heemstra) - 18 oral papers about a wide range of reef and shelf taxa including gobies, soles, tripterygiids, eels, puffers, damsel fishes and unicorn fishes Reproductive mechanisms
(Dr William Hamlett) -10 oral papers dealing with reproduction and micro-anatomy of the reproductive systems of sharks Chondrichthyan fishes
(Dr Sheldon Dudley & Ms Sabine Wintner) - 26 oral papers covering systematics of sharks and rays based on both morphology and molecular approaches as well as biology and ecology of various species including white sharks, mako sharks, dusky sharks, ragged tooth sharks and Zambesi sharks Fish larvae
(Dr Shael Harris) - 15 oral papers which included descriptions of eggs and larvae, larval distribution, settlement patterns and larval behaviour Estuarine fishes
(Dr Alan Whitfield) - 18 oral papers covering fishes using estuaries as nursery areas, community structure and biogeography Marine Protected Areas
(Mr Bruce Mann) - 10 oral papers dealing with aspects of fish conservation in Australia, Philippines, Malaysia, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. In addition to the conference sessions, meetings of the IUCN specialist group on sharks and the Society for the Conservation of Reef Fish Aggregations were held during evening sessions. Also, in the light of the current international debate about use of molecular and morphological characteristics in reef fish systematics, a timely discussion session on this topic was chaired by Dr Kendall Clements.
A mid-conference break on Wednesday allowed delegates to re-charge their batteries and see something of KwaZulu-Natal. A range of tours including Tala Game reserve, diving on Aliwal Shoal, Victoria Market, PheZulu cultural village, Natal Sharks Board as well as a sunset cruise and a wine tasting were enjoyed by our visitors. Still on the social side, in addition to the opening function hosted by the South African Association for Marine Biological Research, the mayor of Durban hosted a reception for the delegates and, on the final night, a gala African banquet complete with ostrich and kudu washed down by litres of wine was enjoyed by all. Amid Zulu dancing, the announcement was made that the bid to host the 7th Indo-Pacific Fish Conference in 2005 had been won by Taiwan.
Overall, the conference was a huge success with excellent scientific presentations and plenty of opportunity for fruitful discussions amongst the delegates. The conference was, by and large, funded by the registration fees of the delegates though SAAMBR made a major contribution by covering the salaries of ORI staff while they organised the conference. SCOR, through the USA National Science Foundation, contributed to the expenses of six delegates from developing countries, MSSSA (KZN branch) funded the international air ticket of a symposium convenor and NRF contributed to the airfare of the invited plenary speaker and the registration fees of 11 South African post-graduate students. The Natal Sharks Board and University of Natal also contributed the time of some staff members to assist with the conference and several companies sponsored products for the delegates.
The proceedings of the IPFC will be published in the international journal Marine & Freshwater Research and should be available early next year. Anyone interested in obtaining an electronic copy of the abstracts can contact Dr Lynnath Beckley at seaworld@dbn.lia.net.
