22nd ICAZ Fish Remains Working Group
August 12 to 17, 2024, Toronto
We are excited to invite you to join us at the 22nd International Conference of the International Council for Archaeozoology Fish Remains Working Group in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, from August 12 to 17, 2024. The dates are inclusive of the post-conference field trip.
For questions, please contact us at frwg.toronto@utoronto.ca.
We look forward to seeing you in Toronto next summer!
Conference
Call for Papers (abstracts and deadlines)
Information for Poster Presenters
Post-conference Excursion
Post-conference Excursion (including hotel information)
Organizing Team, Supporting Partners, and Contact
Call for Papers
The 2024 ICAZ Fish Remains Working Group (FRWG) Conference Organizing Committee invites abstract submissions for paper and poster presentations at the upcoming conference in Toronto, Canada (August 12 to 17, 2024). Toronto is located on the shores of Lake Ontario, one of North America’s large freshwater lakes. Fish and fishing were and are central to the livelihoods of Indigenous peoples in the region and were important for the settler economy in the colonization period.
Abstracts
Abstracts are due by May 15, 2024 (midnight Toronto time, or EST)
We welcome abstracts on topics pertaining to historical and archaeological use of fish by humans. We uphold the tradition of past FRWG conferences to be widely inclusive of studies employing differing methodologies and examining past human and fish interactions globally.
Abstracts of 300 to 500 words should be written in English and accompanied by 3 keywords. Paper presentations will be limited to 15 minutes in length, and they will be followed by a 5-minute question-and-answer session.
Abstract submission should be undertaken by the author whose name appears first in the list of authors on the paper or poster, and this author must register for the conference (for attendance in-person or online). All communication regarding the conference presentation and program will be directed to this author. Conference participants can be first/lead author on only one paper and one poster. However, they are welcome to be co-author on any number of other papers and posters. Authors who are not the lead author are not obligated to register, but they are encouraged to do so.
This will be a hybrid meeting. We encourage registrants to participate in person, but those who cannot attend in person may participate remotely. We can accommodate both live or prerecorded presentations by remote participants. Participants joining remotely can also submit posters. Participants presenting posters in absentia will need to provide a physical poster (we provide information on local printing and delivery here).
Deadlines
- The Call for Abstracts will close on May 15, 2024.
- For planning purposes, we request that all presenters, both oral and poster, complete their registration and payment for the conference by May 30, 2024
- By submitting an abstract, you confirm your commitment to registering for and participating in the conference. Final date for registration will be June 15, 2024.
- After a review of abstracts by the Conference Scientific Committee, decisions on acceptance will be communicated to the lead author in May 2024. Acceptance of papers or posters is provisional pending receipt of registration.
Information for Poster Presenters
Tentative Schedule
The tentative schedule for the conference is as follows:
- Monday, August 12, 2024 – Conference sessions/papers (approximately 9:00am to 5:00pm)
- Tuesday, August 13, 2024 – Conference sessions/papers (approximately 9:00am to 5:00pm)
- Wednesday, August 14, 2024 – Poster session (morning); in-town excursion (afternoon)
- Thursday, August 15, 2024 – Conference sessions/papers (approximately 9:00am to 5:00pm); banquet (approximately 5:00pm to 9:00pm)
- Friday, August 16, and Saturday, August 17, 2024 – Post-conference excursion
Registration
Registration deadlines
- For planning purposes, we request that all presenters, both oral and poster, complete their registration and payment for the conference by May 30, 2024.
- Final date for registration for all conference attendees (both online and in-person) will be June 15, 2024.
Registration options:
Registration includes a light sandwich-style lunch for in-person attendees on the four main session days (Monday, August 12, to Thursday, August 15).
- Standard registration $250.00 Canadian
- Reduced registration $150.00 Canadian
- Conference banquet $130.00 Canadian
- Post-conference excursion (excluding hotel) $280.00 Canadian
- Conference banquet tickets for non-registrants/accompanying persons $130.00 Canadian
- Post-conference excursion for non-registrants/accompanying persons (excluding hotel) $280.00 Canadian
- Coffee Break Advertising $500.00 Canadian
Information for Poster Presenters
Please visit our new Information for Poster Presenters webpage.
About ICAZ and the FRWG
The International Council for Archaeozoology (ICAZ) is a nonprofit organization devoted to promoting archaeozoological research of the highest scientific standards and fostering communication among the international community of archaeozoologists. ICAZ members number more than 550 individuals from 62 countries, all with the common interest of understanding past relationships between humans and animals. (from the ICAZ Website)
The Fish Remains Working Group (FRWG) was created during an informal meeting held at the Zoological Museum of the University of Copenhagen in 1980. Its members are an interdisciplinary consortium of researchers (archaeozoologists, archaeologists, zoologists, ichthyologists, historians, and fishery biologists) interested not only in the study of fish remains retrieved in archaeological sites from around the world, but also on any matter dealing with fishing, the fish trade, and fish consumption in prehistoric and historic times. (from the FRWG Website)
Prospective attendees who wish to know more about the range of topics covered in typical FRWG conferences are encouraged to view programmes from past conferences:
There have also been short summaries of past FRWG meetings published in the ICAZ Newsletter that may be of interest:
- 2022 meeting (PDF)
- 2019 meeting (PDF)
- 2017 meeting (PDF)
About Toronto
Toronto is the largest city in Canada (with a population of roughly 3 million people in the city itself and roughly 6.3 million including the surrounding Greater Toronto Area), and it is the capital city of the province of Ontario. The city lies on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario, one of the five Great Lakes of northeastern North America. Toronto is a vibrant city with lots of attractions (including an aquarium and an art gallery with extensive holdings of paintings by The Group of Seven). Toronto is also one of the most multicultural cities in the world, with a food scene to match.
Toronto has an excellent public transit system, which can be used to travel between hotels or short-term rentals and the conference venue. Toronto also has a bikeshare programme, with docking stations throughout the downtown core and (at less regular intervals) beyond. Although only those cyclists under the age of 18 are obligated to wear a (government-approved) bike helmet, we strongly recommend that adults wear one too.
For more information on visiting Toronto, see Destination Toronto or Visiting Toronto.
About the Conference Venue
The 2024 FRWG conference will be held on the St. George (downtown) campus of the University of Toronto. The University of Toronto is a public research university that is Canada’s largest university, with an enrolment of almost 100,000 students across three campuses. Located in the centre of the City of Toronto, the St. George campus, the largest of the three campuses, was established in 1827. The FRWG conference will hold events at several locations across the St. George campus.
We wish to acknowledge the land on which the University of Toronto operates. For thousands of years it has been the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit. Today, this meeting place is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work on this land
Travel to Canada
Please visit our new Travel to Canada webpage.
Accommodations
New College Residences
The college has various addresses on campus, all about 100 metres from the conference venue.
2024 rates for non-students:
- $73.45 per night for single for 1-6 nights, including all fees and taxes.
- $101.70 per night for double for 1-6 nights, including all fees and taxes.
- There are shared, lockable toilets and showers on each floor of each residence.
- The New College dining room is open for three meals a day in August.
Due to technical issues, the residence room booking portal cannot currently accept bookings for August, and possibly may not be able to do so until until May. We encourage interested attendees to check back regularly.
Hotels
When you are looking at prices for hotel rooms online, please be aware that the prices are given without tax. Multiply the room rate by 19.78% to get the exact figure in Canadian dollars including the tax (6% MAT municipal accommodation tax and 13% HST harmonized sales tax, which is also charged over the MAT). We were unable to hold a block of rooms without a percentage revenue commitment.
Non-chain hotels close by:
- Annex Hotel, 296 Brunswick Avenue
- Kimpton Saint George, 280 Bloor Street West
- Yorkville Royal Sonesta, 220 Bloor Street West
And there are a number of chain hotels within about 25 minutes' walk from the paper and poster venues (569 Spadina Crescent and 19 Ursula Franklin Street):
- Doubletree by Hilton, 108 Chestnut Street (link will open in a new tab)
- Holiday Inn, 30 Carlton Street
- Courtyard by Marriott, 475 Yonge Street
- Delta Chelsea, 33 Gerrard Street West
- Town Inn Suites, 620 Church Street
Banquet
- Where: University of Toronto Faculty Club, 41 Willcocks street
- When: Thursday, August 15, 5:00pm to 9:00pm
The Faculty Club is 50 m north of the venue we are using for the podium presentations. The dinner will be a sit-down event and will be in the Wedgewood Dining Room unless you hear otherwise.
- This room has air conditioning and is wheelchair accessible.
- The cost, of $130 Canadian per person, includes an appetizer, a main course, desert, a glass of red wine or white wine, and coffee or tea, as well as gratuities and value-added tax.
- The Faculty Club's summer menu has not yet been finalized but will include one option each for pescatarians, vegetarians, and vegans.
- We have made arrangements to add the option of Canadian-caught Sander vitreus (which is frequently found on Late Woodland archaeological sites in the area).
- We will email you with the exact menu options closer to the time.
If you have food allergies, please contact us before committing to the conference dinner, so that we can check with the Faculty Club whether they can accommodate you safely.
Post-conference Excursion
Please visit our new Post-conference Excursion webpage.
Organizing Team
- Eric Guiry, Trent University, Canada
- Jen Harland, University of the Highlands and Islands, UK
- Alicia Hawkins, University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada
- Richard Hoffmann, York University (emeritus), Canada
- Radovan Kabatiar, University of Toronto St. George, Canada
- Suzanne Needs-Howarth, The Archaeology Centre, University of Toronto, Canada
- Trevor Orchard, University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada
- Thomas Royle, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Acknowledgements
- Genevieve Dewar (University of Toronto Scarborough, Canada), Lisa Janz (University of Toronto Scarborough, Canada), and Katherine Patton (University of Toronto St. George, Canada) assisted with the initial stages of the organization for the conference.
- Carolyn Loos and Joanne Kao (University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada) provided considerable assistance with the financial aspects of the conference.
- Kimiko Hill (University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada) was responsible for creating and maintaining the website for the conference.
Supporting Partners
Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto Mississauga
Contact
For questions, please contact us at frwg.toronto@utoronto.ca.
