Torshavn, Faroes, where the 13th edition of the Sea Lice Conference will be held in May 2022. Photo: Stig Nygaard.

Online event fills gap as lice conference is postponed

The organisers of an annual international sea lice conference which was this year due to be held in the Faroe Islands have postponed the physical version of the event until May next year because of the continuing effects of Covid-19 on international travel. Instead, an online conference will be held this September.

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“Since the 13th International Conference 2020 was rescheduled for 2021, and then again to May 2022, we appreciate that the period between conferences becomes unacceptably long,” stated Faroes’ aquaculture research station Fiskaaling, which is organising the event. “Therefore, the Organising Committee has decided to stage an interim, or provisional, online conference in September 2021.”

‘Research is suffering’

Fiskaaling chief executive Jóhanna Lava Køtlum said: “Sealice networking and research is suffering from not being able to present and discuss important scientific progress and issues at hand.

“While the 13th Sealice Conference in May 2022 will provide the desirable platform for this purpose, we believe that the online conference in September will serve to alleviate the most immediate need for international interaction within the sea lice community.”

The online programme is currently being prepared for September 7-9. There will be one session of approximately two hours duration each day. The timing will be designed to accommodate participation across several time zones.

Sea Lice Conference 2022 will take place in Tórshavn, Faroes, from May 9-13.