Decades of research on the function of mangroves as fish habitat have found that there maybe differeing processes occuring in the Eastern and Western hemispheres. Whether it be driven by differences in tides, evolutionary histories, or differing species compositions, there is an uncertainty about the global role that mangroves play as critical habitat in the new vs old worlds. The goal of the Third International Symposium on Mangroves as Fish Habitat is to encourage the exchange of new knowledge, data, and ideas on the “classic” themes revealed by the two previous meetings, with the ultimate goal of "Connecting the Hemispheres," bringing together the two regions of the world to find where global patterns occur. Under this overarching theme, there will be topics that include:

• Comparison of mangrove function across regions using matching methodologies
• Mangroves, fishes, and marine protected areas
• Community participation in mangrove-fish management
• Application of technologies to study fishes in mangrove areas
• Aquaculture in mangrove areas
• Socioeconomics of mangroves and fish habitats
• Climate change and its effects on mangroves and fishes
• The mangrove-fish relationship at different scales

The meeting will encourage an interdisciplinary approach, and provide an interdisciplinary platform, to present and discuss the most recent advances and innovations, trends, concerns, challenges, and solutions in mangrove-fish research. While the Western Hemisphere has been the focus of previous mangrove conferences, there is an incredible amount of quality research emanating from the Indo-Pacific region. Malaysia is in the center of this biodiversity hotspot, and is home to a rich array of mangrove species and ecosystems. This makes Kuala Lumpur the perfect place to be the home of the Third International Symposium on Mangroves as Fish Habitat. We hope that the meeting’s geographical proximity to centers of mangrove and fish diversity should upsize our understanding of mangrove-fish relationships that extend beyond commonly targeted species in other regions of the world.