ICES Annual Report 2022

ICES ANNUAL REPORT 2022

JUNE 2023

ISBN: 978-87-7482-980-5

ISSN: 0906-0596

DOI: 10.17895/ices.pub.23519673

Published by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea

H.C. Andersens Boulevard 44–46 1553 Copenhagen V Denmark

+45 3338 6700 www.ices.dk

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Unless otherwise stated, the copyright for the content of ICES Annual Report is vested in the publisher. Material herein may not be reproduced without written permission from the copyright owners. © 2023 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.

Front page image: Photography by Matthew James.

WELCOME FROM ICES GENERAL SECRETARY

It is my privilege to welcome you to our Annual Report for 2022. This has been a year of great change, and ICES has continued to adapt and respond to the challenges of developing science and advice to meet societal needs for impartial evidence on the state and sustainable use of our seas and oceans.

Since taking on my role as General Secretary in August 2022, it has been my pleasure to join and to lead the talented and dedicated team at ICES Secretariat. Their commitment to supporting ICES network advance and share scientific understanding of marine ecosystems is unparalleled.

The dedication of the entire ICES community was evident throughout 2022 as we continued to navigate the challenges of international cooperation post-pandemic and confronted new geopolitical realities. In March, ICES Council of Delegates voted to place a temporary suspension on the participation of all Russian Federation delegates, members, and experts in ICES activities. Multinational participation in the processes which provide science, data, and advice in support of our mission is essential to our work, and we continue to adapt to current challenges.

The 2022 Annual Science Conference in Dublin was a joyous reunion, bringing our community together for the first time following the period of remote work. It was our first major hybrid event, providing greater access and more options for participation. Admittedly, there were a range of views on the success of this format, and we will continue to explore the balance of in-person, hybrid, and virtual interaction that will be most effective for the network.

ICES network comprises a diverse range of people. Recognizing the need to create a culture of belonging and inclusion, a consultation process within our community culminated in approval of the Gender Equality Plan and Code of Ethics and

Professional conduct by the Council. This work is off to a good start, and we will continue to develop it throughout the coming years.

Fostering a broad network is central to our mission, and valuing the contributions of early career scientists was at the heart of the launch of the Strategic Initiative on the Integration of Early Career Scientists. This dedicated group has been active in making our network more accessible to early career researchers.

To ensure our science and advice is societally relevant requires continuous engagement with our stakeholders. Stakeholders contribute with their expert knowledge, which is incorporated into the science and the evidence base for advice. Our new Stakeholder Engagement Strategy makes explicit the purpose of engagement, creates greater transparency in the process, and lists the expectations and responsibilities of stakeholders and scientists. This work further strengthens the credibility of ICES science and advice.

The UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development is underway, and we continue to contribute. The Ocean Decadeendorsed programme SmartNet establishes a global knowledge network for ocean science by strengthening and expanding the collaboration of ICES, the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES and our partner organizations.

I want to thank everyone throughout our network, the Secretariat, our Member Countries and beyond for all that you have contributed to our ongoing resilience and success. I hope you will enjoy reading more about our work in the following pages and that you will be inspired to further connect with our network. We look forward to welcoming you to ICES Annual Science Conference, 11–14 September in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain.

Alan Haynie ICES General Secretary

ICES is a world-leading marine science organization, meeting societal needs for impartial evidence on the state and sustainable use of our seas and oceans.

We are a network of 5000 experts from 800 institutes and organizations in 20 Member Countries and beyond.

More than 3000 experts participate in our activities annually.

ICES AT A GLANCE

THE ESSENTIALS OF OUR ORGANIZATION

HOW WE WORK

5000 experts

800 institutes and organizations

• Ecosystem overviews

OUR PRODUCTS WHERE WE WORK

• Fisheries overviews

• Aquaculture overviews

• Annual recurrent advice on 200–250 fishing opportunities in the Northeast Atlantic and Baltic Sea

• Advice on the trends and top pressures impacting marine ecosystems, methods of monitoring, indicators of the state of the environment, and the evaluation of management plans

• Technical advice

• Data services including data portals, data visualization, and assessment tools

• Training

• Science highlights and viewpoints in areas of societal importance

• Publications

• Conferences and symposia

ICES is an intergovernmental organization with 20 Member Countries: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States of America.

150 expert groups

Through strategic partnerships our work in the North Atlantic Ocean extends into the Arctic, the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, and the North Pacific.

Broad range of scientific disciplines

Contributions from 70+ countries

ICES NETWORK

OVERVIEWS: AN INTRODUCTION

Our ecosystem, fisheries, and aquaculture overviews are central to our approach to support evidence-based ecosystem-based management, the primary way of managing human activities affecting marine ecosystems.

Informed by the expertise of our many working groups and workshops, these products provide an annual snapshot of the status and trends of marine ecosystems, helping to guide decision-making processes towards sustainable and integrated management practices.

Ecosystem overviews set the broader ecosystem context for our other advice products, such as fishing opportunities, special requests, and fisheries overviews. Ecosystem overviews increase our capacity to provide the integrated ecosystem advice that is required to meet the current and future needs of clients and stakeholders. They link the key pressures and trends, including climate change, to changes in different ecosystem components.

Fisheries overviews provide the ‘fisheries narrative’ for each ecoregion. National fishing fleets in the ecoregion, including their fishing gears and spatiotemporal patterns, and the status of the fisheries resources are described. The level of exploitation relative to the agreed objectives and reference points, mixed-fisheries considerations of relevance to the management of the fisheries, and the impacts of fishing gear on the ecosystem in terms of the seabed and the bycatch of endangered, protected. and/or threatened species are also provided.

Aquaculture overviews provide a summary of aquaculture activities within ecoregions. Information on the species cultured, the level of production, the socio-economic importance, and environmental interactions are provided. The overviews also include available information on aquaculture systems used in an ecoregion, the history of production, and as the regulatory and management frameworks in different areas of that ecoregion.

Our ecosystem, fisheries, and aquaculture overviews are continuously evolving and developing to address new information as well as changes in the ecosystem, legislation, and the drivers of human pressures.

The inclusion of new topics depends on a topic’s relevance to requesters of advice and stakeholders, the scientific maturity, data availability and quality, and capacity of expertise in ICES science network.

ECOSYSTEM OVERVIEWS

Ecosystem overviews are one of our key products and central to our approach to support evidence-based Ecosystem Based Management, the primary way of managing human activities affecting marine ecosystems.

Assessing the impact of human pressures on the marine ecosystem – from the coasts to the deep sea, monitoring trends in species and habitat diversity – is essential if we are to manage how human activities affect our seas and oceans. Ecosystem overviews identify human activities and resulting pressures and explain how these pressures affect key ecosystem components at a regional level. Presenting the main human activities regionally creates an awareness of their distribution and the resultant pressure on the environment and ecosystems across ICES regions.

In 2022, ICES published ecosystem overviews for eleven ecoregions and carried out a complete revision of the Greater North Sea Ecosystem Overview.

“This revision of ICES Greater North Sea Ecosystem Overview in 2022 highlights a substantial change in the main pressures since the last overview was published. Specifically, chemical contaminants, marine litter and non-indigenous species are now in the top five pressures, but the selective extraction of species and seabed physical disturbance caused by fishing activities remain the most important pressures acting on the Greater North Sea Ecoregion”.

Andrew

“Scrubber discharge water is now the largest individual liquid waste stream entering the OSPAR Convention area (Northeast Atlantic)—more than double the volume of produced water from oil and gas extraction, which was previously pointed out as the largest individual liquid waste stream.”

“Contamination in the Greater North Sea is mainly derived from shipping, including fishing vessel operation, inputs (scrubber discharge water and antifouling paints), industrial and urban inputs (wastewater, river and atmospheric inputs), agricultural run-off, oil and gas extraction, and renewable energy installations. All of these are high on the list of pressures here as a result of their high prevalence across these many sectors, which are responsible for introducing various synthetic and non-synthetic compounds into the marine environment.”

”New non-indigenous species (NIS) introductions steadily increased from 1970 to 2020. Intensified shipping played a major role in this increase, as over 50% of the new NIS were introduced through ships ballast water and sediments and biofouling. Ballast water and biofouling management globally is a work in progress, which inevitably led to this increase in new introductions.”

“The functional ecology of North Sea benthos has been an important focus among the activities of our working group. Since quantifying the vulnerability of benthic organisms to human pressures represents an ultimate objective, fundamental knowledge on benthos natural history and roles in ecosystem functioning are crucial prerequisites to ensure theoretically-sound applications. Our work outcomes emphasized why the North Sea benthos could be more vulnerable to bottom trawling disturbance in some habitats than in some others.”

Olivier Beauchard Working Group on Biodiversity Science (WGBIODIV)

Okko Outinen Chair of ICES-IOC-IMO Working Group on Ballast and Other Ship Vectors (WGBOSV)

Claire Mason Co-chair of the Marine Chemistry Working Group (MCWG)

Ida-Maja Hassellöv Co-chair of the Working Group on Shipping Impacts in the Marine Environment (WGSHIP)

Kenny Chair of Human Activities, Pressures and Impacts Steering Group (HAPISG)

Insights from our experts that contributed to the Greater North Sea Ecosystem Overview in 2022

ECOSYSTEM OVERVIEW 2022 GREATER NORTH SEA

Introduction of non-indigenous species

Fishing continues to be the main activity impacting ecosystem health, despite a decline in fishing effort in recent decades.

State of the ecosystem

Two main seal species — grey seal and harbour seal — have increased in numbers from an alltime low in the 1970s.

Environmental and socio-economic context

Eutrophication has reduced due to the introduction of measures to reduce nutrient input from rivers.

53% 18%

from shipping mainly through ballast water and hull fouling

Energy production  Oil and gas industries remain one of the main activities impacting the marine ecosystem, primarily through contaminant pressure.

from aquaculture

Energy transition

Pressures from oil and gas are expected to decline as pressures from offshore marine renewable energy production are expected to increase.

Most commercial stock sizes are effectively managed at levels consistent with achieving maximum sustainable yield (MSY).

Fishing related physical disturbance of the seabed is the main pressure resulting in an overall decrease in invertebrate biomass.

There is a decrease of 20–90% in fished areas, depending on how heavily the area is fished. Grey

Seabird abundance appears to be declining. Changes in migration patterns, reductions in breeding success, and lower survival are possible causes.

Increased fuel prices lead to:

Decreased fishing with bottom-towed gears

Reduction of the extraction of demersal fish

Reduction of the disturbance of seabed habitats

Shift towards less fuel-intensive fisheries, such as gillnets

Increased bycatch risk of seabirds and marine mammals

Longer-term effects from lost and abandoned fishing gear

Contributions of small-scale coastal fisheries

Regional importance

Seabed litter is widespread and increasing. The most common items are plastic sheets, synthetic ropes, monofilament fishing lines, and plastic bags.

Climate change

An increase in sea surface temperature in the southern North Sea of between 1 and 2 degrees compared to the 1951–1980 average temperature.

This has changed the spatial distribution of several fish and plankton species within the ecoregion. This trend is likely to continue. of value landed 10%

FISHERIES OVERVIEWS

Fisheries overviews are central to our approach to support ecosystem-based fisheries management, the primary way of managing human activities affecting marine ecosystems.

Fisheries overviews summarize the services derived from fishing activities and the effects of fishing on the ecosystem in each ICES ecoregion. This includes which countries are catching what species, quantifying discards and bycatch, describing the various fishing methods being used, and how stocks are managed. The overviews perform a crucial role, giving the context for ecosystembased fisheries management.

Our fisheries overviews portfolio has grown and in 2022 covered all 11 ICES ecoregions providing a complete overview of fisheries in the Northeast Atlantic.

Fisheries overviews are continuously evolving and require expertise from throughout ICES science network. The inclusion of new topics depends on a topic's relevance to requesters of advice and stakeholders, the scientific maturity, data availability and quality, and capacity of expertise ICES science network

Bay of Biscay and Iberian Waters Fisheries Overview 2022

Within ICES, the assessments of the stocks relevant to this ecoregion are the responsibility of several expert groups:

• Working Group for the Bay of Biscay and the Iberian Waters Ecoregion (WGBIE)

• Working Group on Widely Distributed Stocks (WGWIDE)

• Working Group on Southern Horse Mackerel, Anchovy, and Sardine (WGHANSA)

• Working Group on the Biology and Assessment of Deep-sea Fisheries Resources (WGDEEP)

• Working Group on Elasmobranch Fishes (WGEF).

MIXED FISHERIES

Fishing operations typically catch more than one species at a time although some gears are more selective than others.

In the Bay of Biscay and Iberian waters, fisheries target a large range of species with different gears.

Trawl fisheries (using otter, beam, or pelagic trawls) take place for Norway lobster, hake, anglerfishes, megrims, sole, and sea bass as well as some pelagic species (blue whiting, mackerel, and horse mackerel) and cephalopods (cuttlefish and squid). Gillnet fisheries target sole, hake, pollack, sea bass, and anglerfishes, while longline fisheries target mainly hake.

In the Bay of Biscay, the fisheries are mainly carried out by French and Spanish vessels, though some Belgian beam trawl vessels target sole and, in Iberian waters, by Portuguese and Spanish vessels, with a small participation of French vessels.

“The Bay of Biscay and Iberian Coast Fisheries Overview focuses on the status of the fish resources in the area. It includes information on catches, species and fleets interaction, and the effects of fisheries on the ecosystem, providing measures to address fisheries challenges in the region. This information is vital for managers and stakeholders to make informed decisions on sustainable fishing practices.

Although the overview covers multiple fisheries and stocks assessed in several working groups, the stocks in the Working Group for the Bay of Biscay and the Iberian Waters Ecoregion (WGBIE) assume relevance in the two mixed-fisheries case studies.”

“All fleets fishing in the Iberian waters and Bay of Biscay are concerned by mixed-fisheries considerations, which are particularly relevant for bottom-trawl fisheries. The analysis of 2022 showed that hake in the Iberian waters and pelagic species and pollack in the Bay of Biscay are the most limiting species.”

Dorleta Garcia Working Group on Mixed Fisheries

Advice (WGMIXFISH)

Cristina Silva Co-chair of the Working Group for the Bay of Biscay and the Iberian Waters Ecoregion (WGBIE)

FISHERIES OVERVIEW 2022 BAY OF BISCAY AND IBERIAN COAST

This ecoregion includes areas of the deeper eastern Atlantic Ocean, as well as coastal areas from Brittany in the north to the Iberian Peninsula and Gulf of Cadiz in the south.

Bay of Biscay

ICES provided advice in 2022 on 73 stocks

10 Benthic 6 Crustacean 20 Demersal

26 Elasmobranch 11 Pelagic

Species caught in the ecoregion

Cantabrian Sea

Who is fishing?

Portugal Spain

Pelagic species

Elasmobranch species

Demersal species

Gulf of Cadiz

France 7 countries currently have fisheries targeting the many marine stocks within the ecoregion.

Countries with the largest landings: Spain, Portugal, and France

Fishing gears used in the area

Bottom trawls are the most common gear used in the area and targets demersal species.

Midwater trawls take the highest landings in the area and target blue whiting and mackerel.

Countries with minor landings: The Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium, and UK

Ecosystem effects of fisheries

Biomass removal

Abrasion

Ghost fishing

Landings by species in 1950–2020

Deep-sea species

Damage to benthic fauna

Bycatch of marine mammals, elasmobranchs, and seabirds

Sardine gives the highest proportion of the total landings followed by blue jack mackerel and horse mackerel.

Blue jack mackerel

Sardine landings show a decreasing trend since the 1980s.

Horse mackerel

AQUACULTURE OVERVIEWS

Our work on aquaculture is part of a wider portfolio that seeks to advance and share a scientific understanding of marine ecosystems and the services they provide and use this knowledge to generate state-of-the-art advice for meeting conservation, management, and sustainability goals.

Aquaculture overviews contribute to knowledge of aquaculture activities in an ecoregion and how aquaculture interacts with environmental, economic, and social drivers. The key drivers of aquaculture development are described and whether these negatively or positively impact the nature. The extent of aquaculture development in the region over time is explored, for example local food supplies and income/ job creation vs. international market demands and competition, and the regulatory and management frameworks in different areas of that ecoregion.

In 2022, the Celtic Seas ecoregion became the second ICES area for which an aquaculture overview was developed. ICES portfolio now covers the Norwegian Sea and the Celtic Seas.

Aquaculture in the Celtic Seas ecoregion is practised in all coastal waters. Both intertidal and subtidal waters are used for aquaculture activity.

“Future development and management of aquaculture in this ecoregion should increasingly consider interactions with other human activities, such as wild capture fisheries, recreation/tourism, offshore renewables, and the designation of marine protected areas.

“The aquaculture overviews provide a lot for future discussions, there is always talk of increasing aquaculture production and products.

Within ICES, aquaculture is not yet as big as fisheries, but it is going to grow in the future, so I think this also provides the foundation for fruitful discussions on where to grow and how to grow and take into consideration the environmental impact as well as the social and economic aspects."

Ann-Lisbeth Agnalt Chair of Aquaculture Steering Group

“The Celtic Seas overview presents some interesting information in relation to aquaculture in the ecoregion. In particular, the importance of aquaculture for coastal and isolated communities from a socio-economic perspective was highlighted – it appears to be a very important contributor to those economies and to people living in those areas.

ICES has the tools to work closely with regulators, industry, and environmental NGOs on all aspects relating to the science – and to broaden it and draw in the expertise from oceanography and, importantly, the socio-economic side. I think this is a very important aspect that needs to be considered with regard to these overviews – and within ICES in general.”

Francis O'Beirn Workshop on the Celtic Seas ecoregion Aquaculture Overview (WKCSAO)

Climate change is another issue that will likely influence both sustainability and growth of the sector in the ecoregion, in addition to altering interactions with other sectors.”

Elisa Capuzzo Workshop on the Celtic Seas ecoregion Aquaculture Overview (WKCSAO)

AQUACULTURE OVERVIEW 2022

CELTIC SEAS ECOREGION

Aquaculture practices and species cultured within the Celtic Seas ecoregion are varied and consist of a range of both intensive finfish and extensive shellfish production practices.

Policy and legal foundation

Aquaculture production requires licences and is regulated. but aquaculture policy differs between the five countries within the ecoregion.

Recommendations for sustainable aquaculture growth

Promoting innovative production technologies to reduce environmental impacts

Share of total European aquaculture production within the Celtic Seas ecoregion in 2018

Main aquaculture species

34% by value

21% by volume

Average price changes for some significant cultured taxa in the last decade

Mussel prices decreased by

49% 34%

Pacific oyster prices increased by

Diversification of existing culture systems

Application of diverse and innovative delousing techniques

>34% total production by volume

Primary environmental interactions relating to habitats and species

Shellfish

Dominates in number of licensed sites and enterprises

Invertebrates and seaweeds

Expansion of seaweed aquaculture

Largely produced in Scotland

Relatively small production volumes

Main threats to wild salmon populations

Sea lice and genetic introgression from farmed salmon

Considerations for future aquaculture development and management

Interactions with other human activities such as wild capture fisheries, recreation/tourism, offshore renewables, and the designation of marine protected areas.

Other important environmental interactions

Disease transmissions, emissions of dissolved nutrients, pollutants, particulate organic matter, and therapeutants

Climate change hampers sustainable growth and existing capacity for aquaculture in the ecoregion and alters interactions with other sectors.

Diversification of fish culture species

Development of offshore aquaculture

SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Consistency of terminology with International Standards

The Working Group on Fisheries Acoustics, Science and Technology (WGFAST) holds state-of-theart expertise in advanced acoustic-trawl survey techniques and employs these techniques on a wide range of platforms including research vessels, ships of opportunity, and observatories. To foster collaboration and intellectual and social exchange among West African, European, and North American researchers, the group held their 2022 meeting in Senegal.

WGFAST also began to explore it's use of underwater acoustics terminology to ensure more efficient communication of concepts. The international standard ISO 18405:2017 was published in 2017, defining basic terminology used in the field of underwater acoustics, including natural, biological and anthropogenic sound. WGFAST’s terminology has evolved separately to this international standard.

WGFAST included the Supplementary document, How does the terminology used by the ICES community compare to the 2017 international standard, ISO 18405? with their Scientific Report to facilitate discussion and assessment into the differences in terminology and how WGFAST wants to address these differences.

Emerging techniques and technologies

WGFAST is a leader in transforming “Big Data” to information that is used to conserve and manage ecosystems and contributes to a number of activities in this area of development. At the 2022 ICES Annual Science Conference, WGFAST and the Working Group on Machine Learning in Marine Science (WGMLEARN) partnered to host a theme session Processing and interpreting big data using machine learning: Acoustic, optic, and other observations in marine research. Discussions centred on extracting useful information from “Big Data” using machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques to process and interpret large datasets efficiently and effectively for fisheries and ecosystem science.

Machine learning approaches are developing in all fields of science. To track their usage in marine sciences, WGMLEARN assembled a database of published work using machine learning on marine datasets, giving a historical overview of the progress of machine learning in the field. More than 900 publications are organized according to the type of data they use, the machine learning task they tackle, and the technical methods they use to do so. The database allows users to understand where machine learning has been most applied and where it is still in its infancy, track the evolution in the methods, and uncover which methods are most used for a given type of input data.

A major achievement of WGMLEARN is bringing together scientists from different backgrounds, within marine sciences and across marine and computer sciences. The group’s work contributes to bridging the gap between these disciplines and driving forward the application of machine learning in marine sciences.

“Adoption of a common nomenclature will facilitate communication among instrument manufacturers, software developers, and data scientists, provide accurate comprehension of the data, and promote utility of the data for resource conservation”

Michael Jech Chair

on the Working Group of Fisheries Acoustics, Science and Technology (WGFAST)

Understanding of the impacts of marine aggregate dredging

The Working Group on the Effects of Extraction of Marine Sediments on the Marine Ecosystem (WGEXT) published Marine aggregate extraction and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive: A review of existing research. This bibliographical review considers the environmental impacts of marine aggregate extraction in the context of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and the overarching objective of achieving Good Environmental Status (GES) across a number of relevant descriptors. The review identifies gaps in current knowledge, and highlights the need for expert judgement where understanding is limited. In particular, this report calls attention to the need to account for seabed recovery and recolonization when seeking to understand the footprint of effects from aggregate dredging. Information from this study should be used to optimize the management of marine aggregate extraction and its sustainable development, thus addressing policy and management needs.

The Working Group on Open Ocean Aquaculture (WGOOA) developed physical indices to classify exposed (or “offshore”) aquaculture sites. These are based on the site energy (waves and current) reflecting extreme conditions or normal operating conditions. This work will clarify recurring questions of what “exposed aquaculture” is, what requirements are placed on technology, and that ultimately the term “exposed” rather than “offshore” should be used for this type of aquaculture. Attempts have been made for decades to implement this classification at the international level but so far without success.

Oceans Past IX

As our oceans change more rapidly in the current century than ever before, it is imperative that we understand what came before to better frame management of those systems. Our Working Group on the History of Fish and Fisheries (WGHIST) used historical and unconventional data sources (photos, paintings, and figures) to reconstruct past fishing practices and changes in marine social ecological systems through time at Oceans Past XI, which took place in Seattle, US.

WGHIST has been involved with this successful conference series since the group's creation in 2012. In 2022, ICES co-sponsored the participation of early career scientists.

Marine spatial games

Grasping complex ecological and governance situations of transboundary and cross border marine planning and management and learning how to assess situations and make decisions under uncertainty is an important part of marine and coastal planners’ everyday practice. To train such skills, including communication about them, role play and simulation games have become increasingly popular.

The MSP Challenge serious game has been developed to serve such purposes, starting as an in-room situational role play for 60-80 people, supported by a computer tool with maps and data layers and a possibility to match and evaluate plans across borders, then as a table game helpful to train situational and interaction knowledge, and, most recently, as an online version allowing even to evaluate different courses of action using data simulation underlied by the Ecopath model.

The game was developed in a cooperation between practitioners and experts in game development, design, and ecosystem modelling and has in its different forms been applied and evaluated in various teaching and training contexts. COVID-19 pandemic related travel restrictions enhanced the need for a digital form of the game allowing online interaction for different user platforms. Making the online version more universally applicable and developing the necessary training modules became a high priority during 2020–22.

Our Working Group Marine Planning Coastal Zone Management (WGMPCZM) support the development of education and training in the field of marine planning and coastal management. Since the early 2010s, group members have been applying the tool in university education and professional training contexts, including ICES training courses, as well as serving as the scientific reference group to the inventors and developers of the MSP Challenge game.

Advancing dynamic modelling of marine populations and ecosystems

In 2022, our Working Group on Integrative, Physical-biological and Ecosystem Modelling (WGIPEM) organized a special themed section in Marine Ecology Progress Series (MEPS) highlighting state-of-theart, process-based models and how they are being applied to address a broad range of marine research and management topics. WGIPEM carries out its modelling work by sharing and discussing simulation results, identifying gaps in knowledge in these modelling activities, and recommending and performing activities to improve model performance.

An important part of the work is the continued development of end-to-end ecosystem models that incorporate ecological, economic, and social science. The resulting themed section demonstrates the management potential of dynamic marine ecosystem models. The variety of themes included population and ecosystem-level responses to different individual or interacting pressures, and ecosystem monitoring and, management strategy evaluation.

CONSERVATION IN FOCUS

European eel – the first fish stock to receive conservation advice

ICES provides fishing opportunities advice for a number of stocks where anthropogenic pressures other than fishing have a much greater impact. For these stocks, ICES has started to include conservation advice in the respective fishing opportunities advice.

In 2022, European eel became the first stock that was published with this conservation aspect. European eel is classified as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and appears on the European Red List of Freshwater Fishes. Eel is a diadromous species and similar to other diadromous species, the impacts of human activities (for example environmental changes, pollution, hydropower and pumping station activity, and drainage) are substantial.

The advice on fishing eel did not change: fishing European eel is not considered sustainable and ICES advises that there should be zero catches.

“Since 2005, the Working Group on Eel has highlighted how factors hindering the migration of eels (hydropower, habitat loss) and decreasing its quality (contaminants, diseases, and parasites) are detrimental to the species. Including this aspect of conservation in the 2022 advice was an important step.”

Caroline Durif Co-chair of Joint EIFAAC/ICES/GFCM Working Group on Eels

Spatial considerations

This advice applies to fishing eel in all habitats, to both recreational and commercial catches, and includes catches of glass eels for restocking and aquaculture. The conservation status aspect has been added to the advice.

Following ecosystem-based management considerations, ICES considered non-fisheries impacts on European eel and advised that “all non-fisheriesrelated anthropogenic mortalities should be zero” and that “the quantity and quality of eel habitats should be restored including connectivity, and physical, chemical, and biological properties”.

The approach is expected to be followed for other Northeast Atlantic and Baltic fish stocks where there are apparent conservation issues, to accompany scientific stock assessments and give a holistic understanding of the status and conservation of fisheries stocks.

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework agreed at the 15th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in 2022 (COP15) contains global targets to be achieved by 2030 and beyond to ensure the sustainable use and safeguarding of biodiversity, including the conservation of at least 30% of the world’s coastal areas and oceans, and restoration of 30% of already degraded marine environments.

ICES newly established Working Group on Marine Protected Areas and other Spatial Conservation Measures (WGMPAS) met for the first time in 2022, focusing on the design of MPAs and MPA networks. The group will focus on how MPA networks can be designed to optimize conservation and human use benefits, as well as how MPAs can best achieve their desired objectives in light of the projected climate change effects on natural ecosystems.

“Biodiversity decline and climate change are the twin crises facing marine ecosystems worldwide. Marine Protected Areas are a key tool in addressing both of these challenges and have been at the center of global efforts to conserve biodiversity and marine ecosystem function. Ultimately, the success of these efforts will be underpinned by sound design, monitoring, and management systems that reflect the realities of ocean use, the need for strong conservation measures, and the influence of climate change. In 2022, WGMPAS was formed to address these needs and provide novel advice to ensure that MPAs and MPA networks can best achieve their conservation objectives now and into the future.”

Identifying protected, endangered, and threatened species (PETS) at risk of bycatch in each ICES ecosregion

The ecosystem approach to fisheries management obliges ICES to consider the effects of bycatch on vulnerable species. ICES Roadmap for bycatch advice, first published in 2020, describes the legislative background, the science needs, and a path for ICES to strengthen its advice on incidental bycatch.

This document was updated and republished in 2022 to include species lists of PETS seabirds, fish, and marine mammals of bycatch relevance for each ICES ecoregion . These lists represent a major advancement in our work on PETS bycatch and will be integral and operational parts of ICES bycatch advice (including our fisheries overviews) and contribute toward the roadmap’s overarching goal to assess the risk and impact of fleet activity for incidental bycatch.

Major contributors to this work include:

• ICES Working Group on Bycatch of Protected Species (WGBYC)

• ICES Working Group on Marine Mammal Ecology (WGMME)

• ICES Workshop on Fish of Conservation and Bycatch Relevance (WKCOFIBYC)

• Joint OSPAR/HELCOM/ICES Working Group on Seabirds (JWGBIRD)

Convention on Biological Diversity Sustainable Ocean initiative

In 2022, ICES attended the Third meeting of the Sustainable Ocean Initiative Global Dialogue with Regional Seas Organizations and Regional Fishery Bodies, designed by the CBD to bring the Regional Seas Organizations and Fishery Bodies together to talk about marine biodiversity and sustainable exploitation. It occured against the backdrop of the developing Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction negotiations and the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.

“Updating the Roadmap for bycatch advice is a crucial achievement that improves the quality of the advice, essentially enabling the inclusion of fish into our PETS bycatch advisory products. Further prioritization of both marine mammal, seabird, and fish species would be needed for the development of population-level assessments to enable the evaluation of bycatch mortality and associated consequences for PETS populations."

Henn Ojaveer Advisory Committee Vice-Chair

Ryan Stanley

Co-chair of the Working Group on Marine Protected Areas and other Spatial Conservation Measures (WGMPAS)

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY

Stakeholder engagement has taken on an increasingly important role at ICES, as we ensure that our work is informed by diverse perspectives and expertise. Recognizing stakeholder engagement as a critical component for improving the scientific basis in decisionmaking and ensuring the coherence and reliability of policy-relevant science has led to the development of ICES Stakeholder Engagement Strategy.

Cooperative Research Report 353 The Process in ICES of Opening up to Increased Stakeholder Engagement (1980–2020), highlighted that despite having rules designed for stakeholder participation in the science and advisory processes, ICES lacked a defined stakeholder strategy.

In 2021, the Workshop on Stakeholder Engagement Strategy (WKSHOES) organized the background information needed to develop a formal Stakeholder Engagement Strategy. Based on the group’s recommendations, consultations took place with the science and advisory committees, Bureau, stakeholders and observers, and the organizations that request advice from ICES.

In 2022, the Council approved ICES Stakeholder Engagement Strategy, which outlines the key principles of stakeholder engagement and defines the roles, expectations, and responsibilities of both stakeholders and scientists in the engagement. Implementation of this strategy ensures that those involved in any participatory process of the organization have clear roles and responsibilities and that ICES performs its work fairly and transparently.

For stakeholders, this means having a clear avenue to engage with ICES, which ensures that their perspectives are considered in decision-making processes.

“Our Stakeholder Engagement Strategy offers ways into ICES. Active stakeholder participation is consistent with the impartiality, independence and integrity of ICES. It charts the need for further “learning by doing” and the need to monitor and evaluate engagement”.

Mark Dickey-Collas Chair of ICES Advisory Committee (ACOM)

TRANSPARENT ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK (TAF)

Transparency and reproducibility of key scientific outputs from ICES expert groups need to be assured. The Transparent Assessment Framework (TAF) is an online resource for yearly fish stock and mixed-fisheries assessments, as well as other types of assessments stemming from ICES advice on topics such as contaminants, benthic indicators, fishing impacts, survey indices, catch estimates, ecosystem and fisheries overviews. The framework enables anyone to easily find, reference, download, and run an assessment from any stage in the process leading to the published ICES advice.

An important step in this direction can be made by using tools for reproducible science. Reproducible science adheres to the FAIR data principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable), where transparency allows others to produce the same outcome using the same data and methods. In 2022, a training course, Reproducible science, best practices, and ICES Transparent Assessment Framework, taught experts in ICES community to use tools for reproducible science effectively, including guidance on generating R Markdown documents for documenting analyses, git repositories for code workflows, and the TAF for encapsulating data gathering, processing and documenting in a single platform.

We held three well-attended workshops on the TAF for experts working on stock assessments, which provided introductions, demonstrations, and exercises in producing ICES assessment outputs and working within the GitHub environment. Central to these workshops is the openly accessible TAF guidance, worked examples, and templates hosted on GitHub to help users get started. Further TAF learning material can be found on ICES website.

The Regional Database and Estimation System (RDBES) is a regionally coordinated database platform for fisheries assessments which stores detailed commercial fisheries sampling data and aggregated effort and landings data. TAF is a core part of the RDBES and a Workshop on Raising Data using the RDBES using TAF was held in 2022 to support this process.

“After an initial learning curve, experts using TAF report that future analyses are easy to update, modify, and rerun, while new users have benefited from reusing code written by more experienced users. Overall users understand that TAF is essential for transparency of advice products and for provenance of the underlying data. In the coming year, a database of TAF results (mainly stock assessments) will be published, making it simpler to populate other ICES databases containing advice outputs (e.g. Stock Assessment Graphs, Advice and Scenarios Database), and in time, reducing the workload of stock assessment experts.”

Colin Millar Data and Assessment Professional Officer

The TAF core team

Cecilia Kvaavik Advice Data Officer

Colin Millar Data and Assessment Professional Officer

Luca Lamoni Advice and Data Analyst

ON THE GLOBAL STAGE

ICES made two commitments at the United Nations Ocean Conference in 2022:

• To make fisheries sustainable by providing access for small-scale artisanal fishers to marine resources and markets

• To enhance the conservation and sustainable use of oceans and their resources by implementing international law, as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

ICES Science Committee (SCICOM) Chair Jörn Schmidt spoke on the development of digital ocean solutions for ocean health at the side event Digital Ocean systems to support and strengthen implementation of sustainable development goals organized by Mercator, the United Nations Environment Programme, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, and the European Commission and moderated a session on Strengthening the science-policy interface for a healthy ocean at the UNESCO-UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea Delivering the science we need: Scaling Sustainable Ocean Solutions by Strengthening the Science-Policy Interface side-event. ICES Coordinating Officer Ellen Johannesen was on the panel of the Empowering Women side-event organized by World Maritime University and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Ellen Johannesen, Coordinating Officer at the UN Ocean Conference

Jörn Schmidt, Chair of the Science Committee at the UN Ocean Conference

SMARTNET SUSTAINABILITY OF MARINE ECOSYSTEMS THROUGH GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE NETWORKS

SmartNet is an initiative of ICES and the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES) that supports the two organizations' activities related to the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. Its aim is to establish a global knowledge network for ocean science by strengthening and expanding the collaboration of ICES, PICES, and their partner organizations. The focus is on areas of mutual research interest including climate change, fisheries and ecosystembased management, social, ecological and environmental dynamics of marine systems, coastal communities and human dimensions, and communication and capacity development.

SmartNet also incorporates strategies to facilitate the Ocean Decade cross-cutting inclusivity themes relating to gender equality, early career engagement, and involvement of indigenous communities and developing nations in the planning and implementation of joint activities.

One of SmartNet’s highlights in 2022 was an Ocean Decade Laboratory satellite activity in June. The webinar Establishing Global Knowledge Networks in SmartNet introduced SmartNet to the Decade community and provided a networking opportunity with potential partner organizations, stakeholders, end users, and Decade-endorsed activities with common goals.

EARLY CAREER SCIENTISTS

Early career scientists (ECS) are the next generation of researchers. For ICES to continue its mission, it is essential that ECS are central within the organization to promote networking, communication, and education. ICES Strategic Initiative on Integration of Early Career Scientists (SIIECS) was established in 2021 to engage ECS in the activities of ICES in a mutually beneficial way, through raising ICES profile and accessibility for marine ECS, improving the inclusion of ECS, and helping them contribute to the overall goals of the organization.

At ICES Annual Science Conference (ASC) 2022 in Dublin, Ireland, SIIECS hosted a networking session, Connecting ICES expert groups to early career scientists, which explained the organizational structure of ICES, provided information about SIIECS as well as what being an ICES expert group member entailed. They encouraged participation by fostering interactions between expert group chairs and the ECS in attendance.

An important insight was that there are many ECS new to ICES community who are eager to participate in expert groups, however due to the untransparent process, perceived greater formal barriers to participation than what the expert group chairs in the session expected.

Putting ECS (and jellies) on stage

One of SIIECS’s Terms of Reference is to encourage the inclusion of ECS in ICES activities and to develop a proposal to include a regular ECS keynote at ICES ASC. Cornelia Jaspers, leader of the Centre for Gelatinous Plankton Ecology & Evolution, Danish National Institute of Aquatic Resources (DTU Aqua), was honoured with being the first ECS keynote speaker at the ASC 2022, delivering her lecture, Marine ecosystems under change: Do we face a more gelatinous future?

“This was a fantastic opportunity to put gelatinous zooplankton on the agenda of a lot of scientists and get the discussion going within ICES community. If we are to understand ecosystem changes that are due to global changes, these are key players that we cannot avoid anymore.

As an early career scientist, it was also a huge honour to present my research line at an international conference with such a huge audience —500 in person plus 200 online —so I’m very grateful to ICES that I had this opportunity.”

Cornelia Jaspers

In 2022, ICES Journal of Marine Science (IJMS) launched a new themed collection of articles Rising tides – voices from the new generation of marine scientists looking at the horizon 2050 to highlight what it is like to work today as an early career scientist in marine science.

The new series was jointly developed by SIIECS and IJMS and is dedicated to and will be written by early career scientists. Five papers were published in 2022.

“As early career scientists ourselves, we want to get to know the upcoming generation of marine scientists and provide a platform to showcase them. It’s a constantly evolving field that expands all the faster as new methods are developed: how we view marine science in 10 or 20 years may be very different from today.

In a way, we see this collection as a complementary counterpart to the Journal’s Luminaries collection, but instead of looking back on what defined the careers of our senior peers, putting the focus on the upcoming generation of marine scientists and their perspectives on the future.”

Côme Denechaud

Danish

National Institute of Aquatic Resources (DTU Aqua)

Co-chair of ICES Strategic Initiative on Integration of Early Career Scientists

Ocean sciences for the future we want

The Fourth ICES PICES Early Career Scientist Conference took place 18–21 July in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, hosted by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The value of this series to ICES and PICES ECS communities is evident. One of the main aims is the development of contacts and associations, creating collaborative relationships that will help to advance our collective understanding of the marine environment. One hundred and seventeen scientists from 20 countries enthusiastically participated in discussions throughout the week.

Nine ECS, three representing each of the convening organizations, were selected to build the scientific programme. They developed nine scientific sessions under the wider themes of ecosystem and ocean processes,nclusive, interdisciplinary, and transparent ocean sciences, and emerging technologies and

techniques for ocean science. The theme chosen, Ocean sciences for the future we want, was directly linked to the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021–2030 and the important role ESC play in the current and future health of our oceans and coasts for the benefit of humanity.

Federico Maioli, University of Bologna, Italy was awarded Best Presentation for Influence of ecological traits on spatio-temporal dynamics of an elasmobranch community in a heavily exploited basin and Eleana Karachaliou, University of Manitoba, Canada was awarded Best Poster with Whole genome re-sequencing uncovers historic transoceanic divergence in anadromous sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus.

Each year, ICES provides travel funds for early career scientists.

In 2022, ICES funded ECS to attend:

4th Symposium on Decadal Variability of the North Atlantic and its Marine Ecosystems: 2010–2019

“I really enjoyed being part of the Scientific Steering Committee. It was fantastic to learn from the inside how a conference is organized at different levels: deciding on the scientific content, organizing the sessions, the election of an appropriate venue, planning for outdoor activities, the importance of social media to announce this kind of event, and the amount of people who need to get involved; but I most enjoyed the interaction with my Scientific Steering Committee colleagues — first online and then in person at the event.

We became a group of friends who supported each other during the conference to make sure that each scientific session ran smoothly, and we shared many good moments in our spare time visiting St. John’s.”

Ana María Cabello Pérez Instituto Español de Oceanografía/Spanish Institute of Oceanography, Spain

20–22 June 2022 Bergen, Norway

Symposium on Capelin - The canary in predicting effects of climate on the arctic marine environment

10–13 October 2022, Bergen, Norway

International Symposium on Small Pelagic Fish: New Frontiers in Science for Sustainable Management

7–11 November 2022 Lisbon, Portugal

ECSC4 participants at the Marine Environmental Observation, Prediction and Response Network MEOPAR workshop.

ACTIONS FOR GREATER DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

Gender equality is crucial in all fields, including marine science. As a critical component of a sustainable social–ecological system, science must be equitable and diverse to effectively meet societal needs for impartial evidence on the state and sustainable use of our seas and oceans. ICES is committed to mainstreaming gender equality, and principles that support diversity, equity, and inclusion in its governance, working structures, programmes, and service delivery.

Recognizing that women are well represented in marine science overall, but that they continue to be underrepresented in leadership roles within ICES, the Secretariat and the wider community, a Gender Equality Plan was developed during 2022 in consultation with the community. The plan was adopted at the 2022 Council meeting.

This is an important first step that will help the organization focus on fostering a more inclusive working environment, encouraging culture change, and set a path for rectifying existing inequality, which will support more diverse leadership in future.

The plan describes objectives and targets, as well as initiatives in place and under-development in the context of qualitative and quantitative targets that will help us to evaluate progress towards creating the conditions that ensure that all members of ICES community have equal opportunities, access to resources, funding, and opportunities for recognition and advancement. The aim is to foster a diverse and inclusive community of researchers, which can lead to new perspectives and innovative ideas.

An updated Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct was also adopted in 2022. This includes outlining our core values, international standards of good scientific practice, conflict of interest, and environmental responsibilities for all those engaged in ICES activities. ICES Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct provides guidance on good scientific practice, identifying and handling actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest, defines the standard for behaviours of participants in ICES activities, and sets the responsibilities of those contributing to our work, including environmental responsibilities.

ICES Values

Embrace diversity Include equally

Value the different views, expertise, and backgrounds which strengthen the long-term success of ICES.

Communicate thoughtfully

Ensure the right of others to equally participate in ICES activities without bias or discrimination based on gender, scientific discipline, family status, age, race, political or religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or disability.

Avoid harassment

Aim to communicate openly and address others with dignity.

Promote wellbeing

Use discretion and respect others. Harassment, bullying, intimidation, or discrimination in any form is unacceptable.

Follow and encourage others to uphold a safe and welcoming working environment. Be mindful of your surroundings and colleagues and immediately report any situations that are dangerous or distressing to others.

ICES ANNUAL SCIENCE CONFERENCE 2022

ICES Annual Science Conference (ASC)

2022, our first fully hybrid conference, saw participants from multiple disciplines and sectors gather to discuss and engage in the latest thought-provoking marine research.

More than 500 participants joined in Dublin, Ireland with a further 200 participants online. Eighteen theme sessions covered a wide range of topics including sustainable aquaculture, the role of small-scale fisheries and communities in ocean governance, oceanography and ecosystems in the North Atlantic, and ecosystem-based management.

Organizing this hybrid event fell to this year’s hosts, the Irish Government and its two marine agencies, the Marine Institute and Bord Iascaigh Mhara, who were delighted to bring ICES community together to discuss the latest science and develop new ideas and partnerships.

As a hybrid conference, events were not limited to Dublin with virtual meet-ups organized between online participants.

ASC 2022 participants at the Aveda Stadium, Dublin. Image: Hugh Sweeney.

Online participants during The Kraken's Lair: EBM operationalization pitch pit network session.

Keynotes

Climate change impacts on North Atlantic/Irish waters: four perspectives Grace M. Cott, University College Dublin, Eimear Manning, National Youth Council of Ireland, Gerard D. McCarthy, Maynooth University, and David G. Reid, Marine Institute

Marine ecosystems under change: Do we face a more gelatinous future? Cornelia Jaspers, Danish National Institute of Aquatic Resources

Marine ecosystem, fisheries, social, economic, and ocean science: why do we keep missing key dimensions, focusing on the wrong scales, and committing other sins of reductionism? Jason S. Link, US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

All are available to view on our YouTube channel.

Outstanding Achievement Award

Manuela Azevedo, Portugal, was honoured with ICES Outstanding Achievement Award for 2022, an award that recognizes those scientists who have made especially notable contributions to ICES in the field of marine science.

In her three decades working with ICES, she has engaged and played an important role at every level of the organization: as an active member and chair of several working groups and workshops, as a member of the Advisory Committee, as Vice-Chair of the Advisory Committee and as Portuguese member of ICES Council.

“It is inspiring to know that my work has practical application and is important for society, meeting the needs of the fishing industry, stakeholders, and managers for the conservation and sustainable exploitation of marine resources.”

Merit awards

Best Presentation

Dannielle Eager, University of Plymouth, UK

“Fine-scale oceanographic drivers of pelagic biomass around a tropical coral atoll within the Chagos Archipelago Marine Protected Area”

Best Poster

Tora Olsen, University of Oslo, Norway

IN NUMBERS

“Separating the roles of several ecosystem components on four major collapses of the Barents Sea Capelin”

Best Presentation by an early career scientist

Marina Sanz-Martin, Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO-CSIC)

“Velocity of climate change drives unexpected and resilient responses in species of the Western Mediterranean Sea”

Amanda Schadeberg, Wageningen University & Research, the Netherlands

“The future of the mesopelagic zone is being written today – but by whom?”

Opening panel discussion at ICES ASC 2022 on climate change impacts on North Atlantic/Irish waters. Image: Jason Clarke.

Manuela Azevedo, Portugal, is presented with the Outstanding Achievement Award by Pierre Petitgas, ICES Awards Committee. Image: Jason Clarke.

REFLECTIONS ON THE ASC 2022

Paul Connolly, Irish delegate to ICES

The conference highlighted the importance of ICES work, continually developing to meet societal needs and exploring new ways to communicate this work to a broader audience – policy-makers, coastal communities, and society in general.

International cooperation and coordination in marine science has always been a linchpin for the work of ICES – it was clear from the outcomes of the conference that with the new and developing areas such as climate, impacts and mitigation, offshore renewable energy, marine spatial planning, and marine protected areas. Great collaboration will be key going forward.

The energy throughout the conference was remarkable, the diverse range of sessions highlighting developments in science and indeed the new ways of thinking was a testament to the work of ICES developing to meet the changing demands.

The strong cooperation between the Marine Institute and the ICES Secretariat was instrumental to the success of the event.

This year’s event was our first attempt at a fully hybrid conference. Challenges were highlighted and knowledge was taken away on how this new format can be improved on for 2023.

Debbi Pedreschi, Chair of ICES Integrated Ecosystem Assessments Steering Group

The ASC week was a whirlwind tour of cutting-edge research combined with extensive discussion, debate, and brainstorming. The hybrid format opened new doors to innovative approaches to sessions, ranging from panels, to sub group discussions, to fishbowl conversations (!) which kept it dynamic, interesting, and interactive.

High numbers of Irish contributions were visible across sessions, which was a particular source of pride for me. My personal highlight, however, had to be the ‘Kraken's Lair’ network session, which I led with my friend and colleague Marie-Julie Roux from Canada. The session was a bit of a ‘variety show’ with participants encouraged to ‘pitch’ their best idea to advance ecosystem-based management without the use of a presentation, which resulted in science karaoke, story-telling, mini plays, and impassioned speeches. The out-of-the-box approach was fully embraced by participants, and resulted in many belly laughs, but most importantly, some truly excellent and innovative concrete ideas emerged on how to progress ecosystem-based management in the near future.

After an extremely long, tough, and trying few years, the ASC provided an important opportunity for reinvigoration, reconnection, networking, collaboration, innovation and of course, inspiration — where so many were reunited, many others met in person for the first time after two years of working together virtually. Even more wonderfully, this feeling also extended to the early career scientists, many of whom were not only at their first ASC but their first science conference ever!

Alan Haynie, ICES General Secretary

Having been a part of this community for a long time, being in Dublin was a type of homecoming after three years without meeting in person. It was wonderful to see old friends and colleagues as well as meeting many new people and listening to their goals and hopes for ICES network.

Our Irish hosts have gone to great lengths to make this meeting a success, which we deeply appreciate. Having the meeting in Ireland provided a great chance to meet a larger group of world class marine scientists as well. Another strong impression is that there is nothing like being in the same room with other scientists. Dozens of people have remarked on how essential and productive this contact with colleagues has been. At the same time, our hybrid meeting format allowed hundreds of people to participate remotely and all of us to watch any presentation that we found interesting.

I was especially excited to see many great exchanges across disciplines and the participation of a large number of social scientists.

Cornelia Jaspers givers her keynote lecture at ICES ASC 2022 in Dublin. Image: Hugh Sweeney.

SPOTLIGHT ON THE TRAINING PROGRAMME

Introduction to Stock Assessment

21–25 February 2022

online course

This is a popular course that trains scientists in basic population dynamics and stock assessment, not only presenting the theoretical elements but also putting them into practice through case studies and hands-on exercises.

Reproducible science, best practices and ICES Transparent Assessment Framework

5–7 September 2022

online course

The course teaches ICES experts to use tools for reproducible science effectively.

Close-Kin Mark-Recapture: building models and designing projects

21–25 November 2022

AZTI, San Sebastian, Spain

Aimed at experienced stock assessment modelers and statisticians, this was our first course on Close-Kin Mark-Recapture (CKMR), concentrating on commercial and bycatch species in fisheries.

“I have had some population dynamics during my studies, but I’ve never had an in-depth training course about stock assessment. I will now be able to support my colleagues that are working in stock assessment and calculate some interesting results myself.”

Thomas Lanssens ILVO - Innoverend Vissen, Belgium

"As a stock assessor, I was interested in this course to learn more about TAF to ensure the transparency and reproducibility of my stock assessment. I found the training course very helpful to understand how to organize my data, models and the result of my analysis."

Ghassen Halouani Ifremer, France

“I have found the training course on CKMR extremely useful. Currently, there is a lot of interest from advisors and managers on its potential and application, but because of its nature, it can feel quite overwhelming. The course has definitely helped me understand where CKMR can be useful and how it can be applied.”

Ilaria Coscia, Marine Institute, Ireland

“CKMR is an emerging approach which can revolutionize stock assessment and the knockon effects for management. It only requires tissue samples from a small proportion of the catch, from which it can provide estimates of absolute abundance, natural mortality rate, and more, without relying on expensive or unreliable conventional data sources. CKMR has been developed by CSIRO, Australia which is still the only institutewith the expertise to deliver a course. Aside from direct technical information, it’s useful for ICES scientists to see different assessment and management frameworks in other RFMOs worldwide.”

Mark Bravington Course instructor, CSIRO Marine Lab, Hobart,

ICES training programmelooking ahead

Introduction to integrated stock assessment using Stock Synthesis

18–22 September 2023

ICES Headquarters

Copenhagen, Denmark

Something missing from the list above?

ICES training programme invites proposals for new training courses.

www.ices.dk/training

Introduction to stock assessment

23–27 October 2023

ICES Headquarters

Copenhagen, Denmark

Tasmania, Australia

PUBLICATIONS

ICES launched a new online library offering users continued access to our current and past publications, with several added benefits, such as better search functionality with increased links between publications of the same type making it easier to find what you are looking for and discover similar research.

In addition, an External Publications Database is included in the new library so that users can easily view and access journal articles, books, and other publications related to our work but published elsewhere.

The new library allows us to track the impact and use of publications through citations, altmetrics, readership, and downloads. Users have the possibility to follow content and receive alerts on saved searches, when something new is published in one of our series or by an ICES group of interest.

ICES Techniques in Marine Environmental Science (TIMES)

Volume 66 Nuclear abnormalities in mussel haemocytes and fish erythrocytes

These guidelines provide a step-by-step description of the assay procedure, including collection, preparation, staining of mussel haemocytes and fish erythrocytes, slide storage, and the assessment of nuclear abnormalities in these animals, as well as distinct morphological characteristics and photomicrographs of nuclear abnormalities.

Volume 67 ICES Manual for Seafloor Litter Data Collection and Reporting from Demersal Trawl Samples

“ICES network is responsible for generating and consolidating knowledge and advice pertaining to the marine environment, which is disseminated through a variety of publication outlets — a practice that has been ongoing for over 120 years. The implementation of the new library system will serve as a valuable resource for those seeking information on the present state of oceans, as well as the historical development of marine science over the past decades.”

Nils Olav Handegard, Chair of ICES Science Impact and Publication Group

This manual provides user-friendly instructions for ships’ crew and researchers collecting and recording seabed litter. Essential information on how to categorize, count, weigh, and measure seabedlitter items is provided. Ambiguous names within litter categories are clarified and guidance is provided on specific issues such as the proper classification of items made up of multiple materials.

Volume 68 Determination of chlorophyll in seawater

This updated guideline replaces ICES Techniques in Environmental Marine Sciences Volume. 30 and draws attention to critical points and issues associated with the different analytical techniques used within ICES region.

ICES Cooperative Research Reports (CRR)

Number 354 Marine aggregate extraction and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive: A review of existing research

This review considers the environmental impact of marine aggregate extraction in the context of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). It identifies gaps in current knowledge and calls attention to the need to account for seabed recovery and recolonization when seeking to understand the footprint of effects from aggregate dredging. Information from this study should be used to optimize the management of marine aggregate extraction and its sustainable development, thus addressing policy and management needs.

Number 355 Ecosystem assessment of the Central Arctic Ocean:Description of the ecosystem

The report is a detailed description of the current Central Arctic Ocean ecosystem and its various components, as well as some of the changes associated with the loss and change in sea ice habitats, providing a basis for more in-depth assessments on the impacts of climate change and other human activities in future.

Number 356 ICES Report on Ocean Climate 2020

ICES Report on Ocean Climate (IROC) combines decades of ocean observations across the North Atlantic ICES regions to describe the current status of sea temperature, salinity, and atmospheric conditions, as well as observed trends and recent variability. The IROC is the main focus of the Working group on Oceanic Hydrography.

ICES Identification Leaflets for Plankton

Leaflet 197 Plagusiidae Dana, 1851 and Grapsidae Mac Leay, 1838

Plagusids and grapsids are Thoracotremata crabs inhabiting a variety of habitats in the tropical and temperate regions, from marine benthonic communities at 500 m depth (e.g. Euchirograpsus spp.) to intertidal (e.g. Pachygrapsus spp.) or terrestrial habitats (e.g. Geograpsus spp.).

Leaflet 198—Corystidae Samouelle, 1819 and Thiidae Dana, 1852

Families Corystidae and Thiidae comprise 13 species of burrowing crabs, and only two of them inhabit ICES area. These species are Corystes cassivelaunus, belonging to the family Corystidae, and Thia scutellata in the family Thiidae. Both are warm-water species and inhabit the sublittoral zone in sandy bottoms.

Leaflet 196 Identification guide to extantplanktonicforaminifera. Part 1: Family Candeinidae and genera Berggrenia, Bolivina, Dentigloborotalia, and Neogallitellia

This leaflet describes eleven species of the microperforate Candeinidae and genera Berggrenia, Bolivina, Dentigloborotalia and Neogallitellia, including most of the species commonly considered as “small and obscure”.

ICES BUDGET

Income from products and services

ICES advice requesters: European Commission (DG MARE and ENV), OSPAR, NEAFC, NASCO, Iceland, Norway, and United Kingdom; data handling for

Image: Photography by Matthew James.

International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES)

Conseil International pour l’Exploration de la Mer (CIEM)

ICES Secretariat

H. C. Andersens Boulevard 44-46

1553 Copenhagen V, Denmark

Tel: +45 3338 6700

info@ices.dk