I Iberoamerican Symposium on Reproductive Ecology, Recruitment and Fisheries I Simposio Iberoamericano de Ecología Reproductiva, Reclutamiento y Pesquerías

were derived from contributions presented at theI Iberoamerican Symposium on Reproductive Ecology,Recruitment and Fisheries (SIBECORP, Vigo, Spain, 24–28November 2009. Fisheries play an important role in the econ-omies of Latin America, Spain, and Portugal, and this sym-posium was conceived in response to scientists seeking tofoster collaboration between nations on either side of theAtlantic. Numerous groups are currently undertakingresearch in the field of fisheries ecology and addressing theconcept of sustainability, and recognize that the preservationof reproductive potential and recruitment is at the core oflong-term sustainable exploitation in the case of both indus-trial and artisanal fleets targeting marine and freshwater fishstocks that have received little or no attention.Despite the evident economic and industrial relationsamong Iberoamerican c ountries with regard to fisheries, thereis scant collaboration between research institutions. The ideabehind this symposium was to promote and foster collabora-tion networks involving renowned as well as recently createdresearch centers. Since its inception, this first SIBECORPwas organized with a broader purpose than the merecommunication of recent research results. On the one hand, itsought to provide a forum for communication amongIberoamerican countries in order to identify and defineresearch lines of common interest and promote projects thatfoster cooperation between different countries. On the other,it aimed to serve as a platform to showcase the high-standardfisheries research currently undertaken by several groupsthroughout Iberoamerica. As a result of this initiative, inNovember 2009 the Iberoamerican Network for FisheriesResearch was created for the sustainable use of fisheriesresources (Invipesca, http://invipesca.blogspot.com/).The I Iberoamerican Symposium on ReproductiveEcology, Recruitment and Fisheries was organized by theInstituto de Investigaciones Marinas (IIM-CSIC, Spain),