Format: In-person workshop
Date: 8 May 2026
Time: 09:00 – 13:00
Location: La Paz, Mexico
Part of: 2026 International Symposium on Small Pelagic Fish (View programme)
Hosted by: ICES Working Group on Food Security and Nutrition (WGFSN)
Co-hosted by: Global Action Network Sustainable Food from the Ocean and Inland Waters for Food Security and Nutrition
About the workshop
Small pelagic fish play a critical role in marine ecosystems as intermediaries between lower and higher trophic levels. They are also highly valuable for human nutrition, providing high-quality protein, omega-3 fatty acids, and essential vitamins and minerals.
This workshop explores how nutrient composition varies within and across small pelagic species, how environmental and ecological drivers influence this variation, and what this means for food security and nutrition. It also examines how such knowledge can inform ecosystem-based fisheries management.
Taking a full value-chain perspective, discussions will span from harvest and stock assessment to processing, trade, and dietary outcomes. Participants will consider how integrating nutrient yield into fisheries management frameworks—alongside food culture considerations—can enhance both ecological sustainability and human wellbeing.
Format and outcomes
This is a collaborative, working workshop rather than a traditional presentation session. Participants will actively contribute to discussions and co-develop outputs.
A key outcome will be a peer-reviewed Ghoti paper (Fish and Fisheries):
“Maximizing Nutrient Yields from Small Pelagic Fisheries: Tools and Implications for Management.”
Participants may opt in as co-authors, contingent on active engagement during and after the workshop. Those contributing meaningfully to discussions and drafting will be included as authors, while others will be acknowledged.
Structure of the workshop
The workshop combines short expert inputs with interactive and collaborative activities:
Short expert inputs:
- Nutrient-sensitive management in other food systems and its application to pelagic fisheries (Dr James Robinson, Lancaster University)
- How nutrient composition analysis is conducted and how to access relevant data (Dr Marian Kjellevold, Institute of Marine Research)
- The role of aquatic foods in diets and culinary traditions (Dr Alexandra Pounds, ThinkAqua)
- Ecosystem-based management and stock assessment of small pelagic fisheries (Dr Andre Boustany, Monterey Bay Aquarium)
- Global Trade Dynamics of Small Pelagic: Patterns, Shifts, and Market Dependencies (Temiloluwa Jesutofunmi Akinyemi, University of California, Santa Cruz, US)
Interactive components:
- A food-system mapping exercise using a visual small pelagic value chain
- Facilitated interdisciplinary roundtable discussions
- Collaborative synthesis of insights to support the Ghoti publication
The in-person workshop will be followed by online sessions to further refine outputs and collaboratively develop the manuscript.
Participation
The in-person workshop is open and free of charge for all registered participants of the symposium.