Interdisciplinary approaches to the study of human and marine invertebrate interactions

Introduction

Marine invertebrates, including molluscs, crustaceans, echinoderms, annelids, and cnidarians, play a crucial role in ocean ecosystems and are vital to the diets of many coastal communities. Far from being marginal, the exploitation of these species across various industries—such as food, souvenirs, and ornamentation—has persisted for millennia. Currently, marine invertebrate fisheries and landings yield several thousand tons of live weight each year, providing a wide array of uses and applications that raise numerous scientific, ecological, socioeconomic, and political challenges. Although theoretical and methodological advances have been made in the study of marine invertebrates across different research fields, these approaches often operate in parallel rather than in synergy. Today, the diversity of knowledge and practices related to marine invertebrates, along with the increasing vulnerability of these species to pollution, overfishing, and climate change, calls for a truly interdisciplinary dialogue and integration.

Background

The conference seeks to bring together specialists from various scientific disciplines working on human–marine invertebrate relationships. It follows a previous conference held in 2018, focused on “Interdisciplinary approaches to the study of human and mollusc interactions: from prehistory to the present” (abstract book and special edition). This second edition expands the scope beyond molluscs to include crustaceans, echinoderms, cnidarians, and annelids and examines the relationships between humans and these different taxa. This broader focus introduces new social, economic, ecological, and political debates, enriching the dialogue on these often invisible but essential species in the economies, diets, and cultural practices around the world.

Scientific themes

This international and interdisciplinary conference aims to highlight the diversity of relationships between humans and marine invertebrates and the challenges these relationships face in the context of environmental change. It will showcase a range of approaches from archaeology, anthropology, fisheries science, aquaculture, nutrition, ecotoxicology, and ecology to:

Explore past and present interactions between humans and marine invertebrates, including subsistence practices, and symbolic and cultural representations;
Characterize marine invertebrate production systems: local knowledge, uses, practices, and management strategies;
Understand the nutritional roles and health risks associated with marine invertebrates;
Examine the ecological, socioeconomic and political challenges related to human and marine invertebrate interactions;
Open a debate on the role of local knowledge and marine invertebrates in monitoring social and ecological transformations in coastal ecosystems.

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