Request For Proposal - Conference Host

Fish Passage 2026

Background

The Steering Committee of the International Conference on

Engineering & Ecohydrology for Fish Passage is requesting
Expressions of Interest and Proposals for hosting Fish
Passage 2026. Fish Passage 2024 and the 15th International
Symposium on Ecohydraulics will be held in Québec City in
May 2024. The conference has previously been hosted in
Australia, the Netherlands, and multiple times in the United
States in Massachusetts, Oregon, Wisconsin, and
Washington. During the pandemic, the conference was
hosted virtually by the World Fish Migration Foundation. It
is a goal of the conference organizers that the conference be
hosted in alternate locations to attract a variety of local,
regional, and international attendees.

Submission Dates:

Proposals for Fish Passage 2026 will be due back to the Steering Committee by
November 20, 2023 and voted on by January 2nd, 2023.

Note: Examples of previous Proposals are available upon request.

Submittals of Expression of Interest and Proposals should be emailed to: Laura Wildman,
Chair of the Steering Committee at lwildman@savethesound.org cc’ing Elsa Goerig, Secretary
of the Steering Committee at goerig.elsa@gmail.com

The conference series has evolved into an important international forum to bring together
engineers, biologists and others with interest in fish passage issues. Conference attendance has
been approximately 400 and has included researchers, educators, practitioners, funders, and
regulators who have an interest in advancements in technical fishways, nature-like fishways,
stream restoration and stabilization, downstream passage, offtake screening, dam removal, road
ecology, and the myriad of funding, safety, climate change, and other social issues surrounding
watershed connectivity projects. UMass Amherst maintains an archive of downloadable PDF's
for many of the presentations at past conferences (see
http://scholarworks.umass.edu/fishpassage/).

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The conference format includes three days with three or four concurrent sessions in biology,
hydraulics, engineering, and policy/management issues per day. The conference format also
includes plenary talks, professional networking opportunities, and a poster session. Most
conferences have also offered short courses and tours on the days before or after the main
conference.

The conference Steering Committee (SC) has oversight of the conference series with most of the
details of conference organization handled by local conference hosts. The responsibilities of the
local host include:

• Identifying a venue and organizing a conference program that meets the conference
objectives
• Providing funding for the conference
• Serving as the Chair of the conference Coordination Team and Organizing Committee,
and
• Recruiting a conference Organizing Committee
• Working with the SC and previous conference board members to identify a conference
Advisory Board.

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Information Needed in the Proposal
Please submit the following:

CONFERENCE OVERVIEW
General Description
A description of the conference location, venue and available facilities.
Information should include a description of facility capacity; proximity of
conference facilities to lodging and whether transportation is needed; IT services;
food services etc.

Conference Dates and General Schedule

The proposed conference dates and overall conference schedule.

Local Organizing Committee (OC)

The name of the Coordination Team Chair and possible local Organizing
Committee members.

Conference Management Plan

An outline of the conference management plan including how registration,
catering, site insurance, etc. are managed or covered for the conference. Describe
who will be primarily responsible for coordination. This has typically been a
University conference center management or a professional conference
management consultant.

Registration Fees
The proposed registration fees including different levels available, e.g.
professionals, students, NGOs, early-bird, regular and late registration fees etc.

Conference Funding and Budget

A description of likely sponsor commitments and sponsorship levels. Describe
committed and potential exhibitors and sponsors. The SC and previous conference
hosts will also assist with these for groups selected to host future conferences.

CONFERENCE FACILITIES
Conference Venue
Describe the proposed conference venues including room capacities and facility
layout maps. The conference facility needs to accommodate three – four parallel
sessions for the 3-day conference schedule, a large auditorium for keynote
presentations, a poster session and exhibitor space. Exhibitor space typically is
also used for breaks and lunch to allow conference attendees to easily network
and interact with exhibitors and sponsors.
A banquet is generally included one of the conference evenings and a suitable
space for this should also be described. It does not need to be in or at the
conference facility but should be easy for conference attendees to get to.

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 Lodging Options
Describe the lodging options available to conference attendees with preference
given to those within walking distance or short travel on public transportation.
Include lodging that covers as wide a range of costs as possible for your location.
Short Courses and Their Venues
Describe possible short courses and where they would be held.
Tours
Describe the possible tours available to highlight local projects

DESTINATION INFORMATION
Travel and Access
Describe the travel options for getting to the conference location.
Local Attractions
Describe or provide links to sites of interest visitors to your region might enjoy.

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Fish Passage Conference Series Objectives

Feedback from conference attendees indicates three important characteristics of the conference
series that make it highly successful.

1. Maintain a small size. The conference has had attendance of approximately 400 people
each year. This size allows for ample cross-communication between biologists,
engineers, and program managers. A larger conference might lead to sessions that
become too specialized, only appealing to one discipline or the other. The small size,
combined with sufficient networking opportunities facilitates intermingling between all
members of the fish passage community.

2. Maintain a balance of conference content, keynote speakers and presenters, across the
conference themes of biology, hydraulics, engineering, and policy/management issues.
The conference hosts with assistance from the Organizing Committee, Advisory Board
and Steering Committee should actively recruit speakers in all of these topic categories.
The presentation schedule should also be arranged into themed tracks highlighting these
areas as much as possible.

3. Maintain low cost. All efforts should be made to maintain the conference registration
cost (all-inclusive) to less than ~$500 (USD), and with a reduced rate for students and
developing country partners. This price makes it possible for individuals from budget-
stressed state and federal agencies, universities, and NGOs to attend. The low cost has
thus far been made possible by using university campuses and drawing on student and
volunteer labor for much of the workload. The opportunity for low-cost dorm or hostel
room options has been very attractive to conference attendees.

4. Archive conference presentations. UMass maintains an archive of past conference

presentations that has attracted approximately 200 downloads per month. Disseminating
information about fish passage practice is an important goal of the conference series and
is enhanced by this archive. UMass will continue to host conference archives (pdf of
presentations, proceedings or other products) through the existing UMass Scholarworks
Website (http://scholarworks.umass.edu/fishpassage/).

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Conference Host Financial Responsibilities

Each Fish Passage conference is financially independent and the local hosts provide start-up
funding, solicit sponsorships, and collect and manage registration fees. To date, all of the fish
passage conferences have been successfully self-funded; many turning a small profit which is
reinvested into fish passage initiatives. There are several regular costs of the conference that the
hosts are expected to cover including the award plaques and a contribution to the Joint Fish
Passage Committee for maintenance of the fish passage database, website and conference email
and social media accounts. The amount for this contribution varies with each conference’s profit
status likely range from $2000-$5000 (USD). Conference hosts should also support the
conference attendance of as many key committee members as possible such as the Organizing
Committee, Steering Committee, Chair of the Advisory Board and Joint Committee officers
when possible.

Any conference profits remain with the conference hosts and are encouraged to be used to
support fish passage in the form of support for students, research, public education, or non-profit
activities.

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Conference Organizational Structure
The Steering Committee develops the bylaws for the Conference, selects the Conference Host,
and provides guidance, as needed. Each Fish Passage conference uses an organizational
structure consisting of three bodies formed each year by volunteers. These three bodies are an
Organizing Committee (OC), a Coordination Team (CT) and an Advisory Board (AB) with the
responsibilities described below.

Organizing Committee
Membership:
The OC has about eight members at least one of which is a member of the conference Steering
Committee (SC). The local host for the conference serves as the chair of the OC. OC members
are recruited for one-year terms to assist with a single conference. An SC member of the OC
acts as the liaison between each individual conference OC and the SC. Repeat terms are possible.

Tasks:
• Set up content for the conference web site, including registration capability and
identify a conference web site manager and conference registrar.
• Meet (by teleconference) about once per month prior to the conference with more
frequent meetings as the conference date approaches
• Set policy regarding conference budget, conference structure and other major
decisions
• Participate in final selection of plenary speakers, break-out session speakers,
structure of break-out sessions.
• Carry out solicitation of sponsors and outreach to speakers
• Oversee award ceremonies at conference banquet; solicit awards from appropriate
agencies
• Identify individuals for membership on the Advisory Board

Coordination Team
Membership:
Three or four members of the OC will be appointed by the OC to form the CT. The members of
the CT will include the chair of the OC and one or two additional individuals from the hosting
location.

Tasks:
The CT is authorized by the OC to carry out day-to-day decision making for the conference
including:
• Make decisions about advertising, conference facilities, food offerings and
lodging, conference field trip and similar conference details.
• Manage preparation for conference by coordinating with conference registrar,
conference web site manager, student helpers and other support staff

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 • Supervise abstract solicitation and review for oral and poster presentations.
• Respond to inquiries about conference from speakers, exhibitors, sponsors,
presenters.
• Supervise preparation of conference program and other materials
• Manage conference close-out activities (feedback surveys, financial
reimbursements, etc.)
• Report progress to OC and AB.
• Bring recommendations or seek guidance for policy decisions to the SC and OC.

Advisory Board
Membership:
The AB has had about sixteen members. AB members are appointed by the OC with input from
the SC. It is expected that members of the AB will be approximately evenly distributed among
the four categories of academics, government agencies, consultant/utilities and NGOs. One of
the members of the AB will be appointed by the OC to serve as chair of the AB and be the
liaison with the OC. AB members will serve for one-year terms although repeat terms are
possible.

Tasks:
• Meet by teleconference two to three times prior to the conference (meetings
convened by AB chair)
• Receive briefing from OC on progress of conference preparation
• Make recommendations regarding plenary speakers, session topics, session
organizers and special focuses for the conference
• Solicit nominations and make selection of the recipient of the Fish Passage Career
Achievement Award
• Assist OC with review of submitted oral and poster abstracts
• Attend conference
• Serve as session moderators during the conference and conference ambassadors
during conference social time

Members of all conference committees will provide the Coordination Team a brief bio and head
photo shot for posting on conference web site.

Note: For additional guidance, the Fish Passage Conference bylaws should be reviewed by the
Conference Host when developing the Conference.

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