The Inner
Harbor of Baltimore, Maryland, site of the 1997 ICES Annual Science Conference,
awaits the influx of participants.
Mike Sissenwine and I, as the US Delegates, are extremely pleased to welcome old and new friends to Baltimore for the 1997 ICES Annual Science Conference. For many years, ICES representation in the USA has been organized to entrain both government and academic scientists. This has been achieved by having both the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), representing fisheries and academic communities, respectively, be responsible for recruiting and supporting scientists for various aspects of ICES work. We hope you will have the time, either before or after the conference, to travel beyond Baltimore. If you need any help in making contact with US institutions or individual scientists during your visit let us know. Between us, we have a very wide knowledge of the people and programs in oceanography and fisheries in the universities and research institutions, as well as government fisheries laboratories around the country.
Although I now live on the western side of the Washington metropolitan region, near Dulles Airport, for several years I lived in Annapolis, just south of Baltimore on the Bay. Chesapeake Bay that is, but no need to specify that. The locals always call it simply _ the Bay. There are no others. And the way they pronounce their city sounds like "Bulmer". The State of Maryland surrounds the Bay, and Baltimore and Annapolis are its largest and most historic cities (respectively). The region is steeped in history. The Annapolis city hall records mayors going back to the middle of the seventeenth century. (Miami, by contrast, where I spent many years, was established in 1895.)
The Inner
Harbor of Baltimore, Maryland, site of the 1997 ICES Annual Science Conference,
awaits the influx of participants.
Baltimore has nothing to do with Washington, D.C., although only 50 km away. I was once surprised that I had to give detailed directions to a person from Baltimore, not only on how to find the White House in Washington, but how to drive to Washington in the first place. For Baltimore and the rest of the Bay, the essence of the local cuisine is steamed blue crabs and beer. Ideally, and as a test of whether you have found a real native crabhouse (restaurant) the dining table will be covered by heavy brown wrapping paper, and the whole crabs tossed in the middle. You will be provided with a little wooden hammer (mallet) and, of course, a pitcher of beer and a big paper bib to hang around your neck to minimize splattering your clothing.
There are lots of fine little restaurants close by the meeting place, but you will have to go further afield to find a crabhouse. The Inner Harbor of Baltimore, where the meeting hotel is situated, also has lots of attractions for the family, including a world-class marine aquarium, lots of shopping, and is generally a very pleasant area. Close by is Fell's Point, an old dock and warehouse district, which has lots of restaurants, specialized boutiques and antique shops. But as with any large US city, stay within these well-lit tourist areas, particularly when walking, and at night.
The annual meeting of ICES is rapidly changing in character, as will be evident in Baltimore. There is one aspect of the old "Statutory Meetings", however, that you can still enjoy, although probably for the last time, and that is the Sunday holiday. In future, the science meeting will not extend over the weekend. So take this opportunity to take a trip on Sunday down the Bay, visit Annapolis, or Washington or one or more of the other possibilities being offered.
Mike Sissenwine and I hope that you will enjoy the meeting in Baltimore and your stay in the region.
Mike Reeve