IFM Marine Conference 2026: Rebuilding Marine Resilience
About this event
The IFM Marine Conference 2026, Rebuilding Marine Resilience, looks at the evidence, practice and policy behind the recovery of Britain’s marine environment. After decades of pressure from fishing, pollution, habitat loss and climate change, there are signs of recovery: early monitoring data from England’s Highly Protected Marine Areas is coming in, bluefin tuna are returning to UK waters, and new molecular tools are changing what can be detected and measured.
The conference is held at the Guildhall in Hull, a historic fishing city on the North Sea. More than 25 speakers from government agencies, regulators, universities, NGOs, consultancies and citizen science groups will present over two days. The keynote speakers are Dr Erwin Winter of Wageningen Marine Research, whose work on fish behaviour ranges from Dutch rivers and North Sea offshore wind farms to Caribbean reefs, and Professor Mike Elliott, Emeritus Professor of Estuarine and Coastal Sciences at the University of Hull and Director of International Estuarine and Coastal Specialists (IECS) Ltd.
What to expect
- Policy, People and Communities
- Transitional Waters
- Humber and Yorkshire Coast
- Panel discussion: Where next for marine resilience?
- New Eyes on the Water: eDNA, Acoustics and Sampling
- Tagging, Tracking and Telemetry at Sea
- Changing Seas: Spotting and Responding to Shifting Fish Populations
- Keynotes from Dr Erwin Winter and Professor Mike Elliott
Date and time
1 to 2 December 2026. Times not specified.
Location and format
In person, The Guildhall, Alfred Gelder Street, Hull, UK.
Registration