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Upcoming workshops and courses

Take part in our upcoming training opportunities and science workshops.
Published: 24 November 2020

​​​​​​​​ICES online training

Bayesian Network analysis and the social-cultural dimension will take place 7–11 December, run by Laura Uusitalo , Finnish Environment Institute, and Päivi Haapasaari , University of Helsinki.

"Both natural scientists and social scientists are very welcome", says Haapasaari, "We have found that Bayesian networks can facilitate understanding complex problems from different viewpoints, and that they also facilitate learning across disciplinary boundaries".

Register for this course by 28 November.

Upcoming workshops will address Atlantic chub mackerel (Scomber colias)​, the use of predictive habitat models in ICES Advice​, using TAF to assist reporting, and OECM practices and strategies​.

TAF Reporting Workshop  (WKREPTAF)

ICES community is exploring the reporting process for stock assessment working groups and how this could become simpler, more transparent, and less time consuming. One possibility is to expand the Transparent Assessment Framework tool (TAF) to include a scripted style of reporting the progress made within working groups. 

To fully explore the challenges and benefits of this proposal, members of ICES community are invited to a 2-day online workshop to share TAF experiences and the possible role TAF could play in report writing.​

Register now for WKREPTAF which take place online 11-12 January 2021.​

Workshop on Atlantic chub mackerel (WKCOLIAS2)

Over the past decades, landings of Atlantic chub mackerel - an importan​t fishing resource in the northwest African waters, including the Macar​onesian Archipelagos - in ICES waters have been increasing. T​o provide a scientific basis for a future status assessment of the chub mackerel fisheries, one workshop took place in January 2020, with a second planned for January 2021 to continue to update the available information about the species.

The main objective of the upcoming workshop is to collate information and propose a population structure of Scomber colias in the Central East Atlantic, exploring possible connections in European waters, southwards in northwest African waters (including Morocco, Mauritania, and Senegal) and eastwards through the western Mediterranean Sea (including Spanish, French, Moroccan and Algerian waters).

Co-chairs Cristina Nunes, IPMA, and Alba Jurado Ruzafa, IEO, invite experts from countries with fisheries exploiting the species in the East Atlantic to participate, including ICES, the Fishery Committee for the Eastern Central Atlantic (CECAF), and Mediterranean waters. 

Rufaza states, "We expect participants are scientists working on the species from different perspectives: biological studies, fishery data analyses, and estimation of abundance and biomass of fishery resources based on scientific surveys. African colleagues participated in the previous edition and it would be of great interest if these countries would be able to attend this​​​ online meeting, as well as scientists working on Atlantic chub mackerel from the Mediterranean countries mentioned". ​

Workshop on the Use of Predictive Habitat Models in ICES Advice (WKPHM)

WKPHM is taking place to develop quality thresholds for the use of predictive habitat models (PHMs) in identifying areas where vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) are likely to occur, to support future ICES advice. The Working Group on Deep-water Ecology (WGDEC), contributing towards annual ICES advice requests from North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission
(NEAFC) and the European 
Union (EU​) on the distribution of VMEs, has previously reviewed the potential of PHMs to support understanding areas where Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) are likely to occur. However, PHMs have not yet been used to support this ICES advice.

Chris Roomey, chair of the workshop, and Laura Robsen, chair of WGDEC​ state that they welcome participants who have expertise on predictive habitat modelling methods, who have developed predictive models for VMEs in the North Atlantic, or who have undertaken similar work in other regions and can share their knowledge.  ​​​​


ICES/IUCN-CEM FEG Workshop on Testing OECM Practices and Strategies (WKTOPS)

The Aichi Biodiversity Targets​​​​​ were established in 2010 as part of the Convention of Biodiversity (CBD). In 2020, countries worldwide are reporting on their progress regarding the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, and in the coming year will be developing their successors. 

There is considerable interest in the scientific community and among fisheries managers and policy-makers in exploring the extent to which ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Area-based fisheries management measures (ABFMs) may contribute significantly enough to biodiversity conservation to be identified as “Other effective area-based conservation measures" (OECM). The term OECM first appeared in Aichi Target 11, but went undefined until the CBD Decision 14/8 in 2018. There is now a real need to ensure there is clear and workable guidance on how to translate the Decision into actions by jurisdictions that manage ocean pressures, particularly fisheries, and to allow Parties and other authorities to then apply that guidance in their reporting to CBD. ​

On the partnership of ICES and IUCN/CEM/FEG, co-chair Jake Rice​states, "Both have well-earned reputations for ​​doing sound, evidence-based science, and objectively informing development of policies and management actions by marine authorities. ICES has wide experience as the source of expert advice to a range of management authorities, including fisheries (NEAFC​ and EU DG MARE) and biodiversity conservation (OSPAR and EU DG Environment​), plus member countries in the North Atlantic. FEG has worked closely with both FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture and the CBD Marine and Coastal programme on fisheries and biodiversity conservation globally. The pairing -to test a document intended to provide operational guidance on identifying OECMs arising from fishery measures- seems natural, linking global and regional expertise and experience, high science rigour and credibility, and confidence from a broad spectrum of policy and management authorities". 

The workshop efforts and resulting report will present a better understanding of what OECMs are and how they could be identified, with the workshop focus on the North Atlantic and Mediterranean. Workshop participants - whether rooted in ICES or IUCN/CEM/FEG - should gain a greater ability to help at national, regional, and global levels to ensure ABFMs and OECMs fulfill their potential as tools to bring fisheries and management and biodiversity conservation closer together in effective collaborations.​​

If you are interested in participating, co-chairs Ellen Kenchington and Jake Rice, are casting a wide net. "In terms of disciplinary knowledge, we welcome experts in fisheries assessment and management, biodiversity conservation, the ecosystem approach to fisheries, evaluation of the effectiveness of management measures in both fisheries and biodiversity conservation, and the application of science to policy. In terms of experience, the mix is complex – working at the interface of fisheries and biodiversity,  providing advice to authorities in both areas, and knowledge of actual implementation of area-based measures in both fields, including the relevance processes in governance." 

Register for WKTOPS which take place online from 15-24 March.


Workshops are open to: scientists and experts from public institutes, universities, governments, international organizations and conventions, public consultative bodies (such as Advisory Councils), NGOs, industry organizaitons, and interested individuals.​ 

​The latest information on all ICES events - workshops, meetings, symposia, and training courses - is found on our website.




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Upcoming workshops and courses

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