Save the date & join us in Alicante

Aquaculture is the fastest-growing food production sector globally and a central pillar of the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Blue Transformation strategy, which aims to sustainably expand aquatic food production through climate- and environment-conscious practices. However, infectious diseases remain the single greatest constraint to this growth, causing billions of dollars in annual losses and posing a significant threat to global food security and supply chains.

The development and implementation of first-generation injectable vaccines marked a major turning point for the aquaculture industry, significantly reducing reliance on antibiotics and enabling the sustainable expansion of key sectors such as salmon farming. Despite these advances, major challenges remain. Current vaccination approaches can be labour-intensive, costly, and stressful for fish, and are often difficult to apply to early life stages or low-value species. In addition, effective vaccines are still lacking for many important pathogens.

We are now entering a new phase in fish vaccinology. Advances in molecular technologies, immunology, and production systems are opening new opportunities to rethink how vaccines are designed, delivered, evaluated, and implemented in aquaculture systems. After many years without a dedicated international meeting focused specifically on fish vaccination, this conference provides a timely and much-needed platform to bring the community together.

The International Conference on Fish Vaccination aims to make participants share the latest scientific and technological advances within the field and to address the key biological, technological, and commercial challenges. Another objective of the meeting is to bridge the gap between fundamental research and real-world application. By bringing together researchers, industry stakeholders, and regulatory experts, the conference aims to foster meaningful dialogue and collaboration to accelerate the development and implementation of new and improved vaccination strategies against infectious diseases in farmed fish.

The conference aims to convene an international community ranging from early-career researchers to leading experts, alongside representatives from the aquaculture and vaccine industries. Through this integrated approach, the meeting will promote knowledge exchange, strengthen partnerships, and support the translation of scientific advances into practical solutions for sustainable aquaculture.

In this context, the Organizing Committee is delighted to invite you to participate in this event, which will be held at the Palacio de Congresos in Alicante (Spain), from May 24–27, 2027. We encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to present your research or industrial developments, contribute to shape the future of fish vaccinology, and engage with a diverse international audience. Sponsorship opportunities are available. The final program will be organized based on submitted communications, but abstracts for oral and poster presentations are welcomed around the following key themes:

1. Current global landscape of fish vaccination: regional, national and/or aquaculture segment-specific vaccine use; species-specific disease and market needs; economic impact and cost-benefit considerations; market gaps and unmet commercial opportunities.

2. Vaccine platforms and antigen-design strategies: DNA/RNA, inactivated, recombinant and live vaccines; epitope prediction; platform scalability and manufacturability; regulatory pathways for novel platforms (e.g. RNA, live vaccines); licensing challenges and timelines.

3. Vaccine delivery strategies for farmed fish: injection, immersion, oral delivery; optimization of novel mucosal strategies; automation and large-scale deployment.

4. Immune responses and correlates of protection: innate vs adaptive responses elicited; functional vs surrogate markers; correlates of protection; systems vaccinology; acceptance by regulators.

5. Methods for enhancing vaccine performance: adjuvants including emulsions and novel targeted adjuvants; adjuvant side effects; positive effects of immunostimulants, diet, microbiome or host genetics; optimisation of products for field performance and consistency.

6. From experimental success to field impact: laboratory vs. field validation; epidemiology and real-world performance studies.

7. Regulatory framework and 3Rs: licensing requirements; minor species vaccines; implementation of 3Rs during development and batch release.