INSTITUTE OF HYDROBIOLOGY | Lake Fish Telemetry Group: an international and multidisciplinary collaboration to push forward the field of fish ecology and behaviour

The initiative was established in 2018 through the project funded by ALTER-Net (www.alter-net.info) and implemented by the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology. Project participants include top researchers and research groups in the field of fish ecology and fisheries in Europe and globally. The group collaborates on studies based on a joint telemetry dataset of European lakes, shared among the research groups, which comprises thousands of tagged and tracked individuals of various fish species, and hundreds of billions of fish detections, combined with detailed geomorphological and environmental data. Dataset of such size is a unique opportunity for cutting-edge research, based on the use of interdisciplinary methods of data analyses, and for tackling novel research topics within the field of fish ecology, behaviour and management. Furthermore, group is also jointly working on the development of new concepts, perspectives and reviews of available knowledge.

Lake Fish Telemetry Group has so far organized two workshops, where collaborating research teams were meeting to work on joint research activities. First such workshop was organized in České Budějovice, Czech Republic, in November 2018, and the second was held in Berlin, Germany, in November 2019. The number of researchers and research groups steadily increased over time, and currently involves more than 40 persons from various countries, including Czech Republic, Germany, France, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Italy, United Kingdom, Israel and Canada.

In addition to researchers involved in fields of lake fish telemetry and fish ecology and behaviour, the group also brought together experts from other research areas and disciplines to provide an opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration. For example, both workshops were also attended by research groups from Germany and Israel focused on terrestrial movement ecology and involved in the development of a large-scale ATLAS tracking systems, as well as by a research group from Germany that is working on the development of advanced statistical methods for the analysis of animal movement data. Such new collaborations are already bearing fruits by providing a broader perspective to shared research questions, initiated multiple joint studies, exchange of knowledge and experiences, and future joint collaboration plans. Furthermore, the group has also established close collaboration with the European Tracking Network (ETN; www.europeantrackingnetwork.org), with the two networks currently working together on coordination of activities, facilitation of data sharing and joint research initiatives.

Third LFTG workshop is planned to be held in November 2020 in Derry, Northern Ireland. Workshop will be attended by more than 30 participants from various countries, including many top researchers from the field. Workshop will be focused on the overview and further planning of ongoing joint research activities, new research ideas and collaboration plans, and exchange of knowledge, ideas, practical know-how and experiences regarding the telemetry systems.

For more information on the initiative please contact Ivan Jaric, project coordinator: ivan.jaric@hbu.cas.cz, +420 38 777 5855

Lake Fish Telemetry Group is supported by the project "Multi-Lake Research of Fish Ecology and Management using High-Resolution 3D Telemetry Systems", funded by ALTER-Net.