The Implementation Plan for the ICES GOOS Programme consists of three main elements, viz:

1) the Global and Regional Linkage,

2) the ICES Ocean Observing System and

3) a regional ICES GOOS Programme component for the North Sea.

Details of the three elements of the ICES Implementation Plan for GOOS are as follows:

1. The Global and Regional Linkage

a) IOC will co-sponsor the Steering Group on GOOS, including co-chairing it, and nominate GOOS representatives to join that Group as appropriate.

b) In order to ensure that ICES interests are being conveyed to the various GOOS Committees at national, regional and global levels a networking process will be established by putting national IOC-GOOS Programme representatives in contact with the national ICES representatives on the Steering Group. This will be achieved by the following procedures:

i) IOC will provide the ICES Secretariat with the contact details for IOC-GOOS national representatives to be passed to the national ICES GOOS Programme representatives of the Steering Group with a request that contact be made.

ii) ICES will send to the IOC-GOOS Secretariat the contact details for the ICES GOOS Programme national representatives on the Steering Group to be passed to the national IOC-GOOS representatives, with a similar request.

c) IOC will work with ICES to determine which of the ICES activities meet the GOOS Principles and would be best suited for adoption as elements of GOOS, either in an operational or a research sense including technology demonstrators or other forms of pilot projects

d) Consider how ICES might assist in “capacity building” to enable developing countries to participate in and benefit from GOOS.

e) Co-operative arrangements should be developed between IOC and ICES to enhance mutual awareness through the

i) attendance of ICES Representatives at meetings of the Intergovernmental Panel for GOOS (I-GOOS), COOP, and the GSC

ii) the attendance of GOOS Senior officer(s) or their representatives at the appropriate ICES meeting(s).

f) EuroGOOS and any other relevant regional GOOS Programme will participate in the Steering Group with a view to seeking common grounds and exploiting complementarity

g) The Steering Group will nominate ICES representatives, with the approval of the ICES Council, to serve as advisors to selected IOC-GOOS design panels and committees as appropriate.

2. The ICES Ocean Observing System

a) ICES should identify and propose existing operational (regular - at least once per year, routine - existing or planned for more than 10 years duration) ocean climate monitoring activities as ICES GOOS Programme components. These may be standard sections or stations, spatial surveys or numerical model outputs.

b) Each member state should submit agreed results from each designated ICES GOOS Programme activity within an appropriate time (e.g., one month from the end of a survey) through nominated national contact points and under the auspices of the Steering Group

c) The ICES Secretariat should maintain a list of all such ICES GOOS Programme activities, monitor submission performance and produce summary data products (e.g. sub-sets of vertical profiles, averaged data) which will be rapidly communicated, using the Internet and the GTS network.

d) The Oceanography Committee and its working groups should work together to produce and tailor summary products on a periodic basis, at least annually, exploiting the results of the ICES Ocean Observing System. These will take into account the needs and timing of the Fish Stock Assessment Working Groups.

e) Develop further the pilot ICES Ocean Climate Status Summary produced by the Oceanic Hydrography Working Group, and other status reports as appropriate (e.g., that produced by ACME and also on behalf of the Nordic Council). The Working Groups, at the invitation of Steering Group, will consider on a regional basis which key environmental indices are most relevant, and present these in a brief, informative manner with the addition of expert interpretation. Once developed, member countries will undertake to supply the necessary input to each Working Group needed to produce the summary products on an annual or biannual basis.

f) The above activities should be identified as the ICES Ocean Observing System (I-OOS) which will complement ICES activities in fish stock assessment, which already has agreed data and model output collection, submission, and dissemination systems. The two components, the ICES Fish Stock Assessment products and the ICES Ocean Observing System, will form a substantial contribution to GOOS, while at the same time involving little additional effort than is already underway within individual ICES member states.

3) A regional ICES GOOS Programme component for the North Sea

a) ICES, in cooperation with EuroGOOS and other relevant partners, and under the auspices of the Steering Group on GOOS establish a co-ordinated and harmonised observation network and design a system for operational oceanography on appropriate time scale for the North Sea. Such system may consist of a network of participating institutions with one institution acting as co-ordinator or “Lead institution”.

b) ICES should explore the feasibility to establish similar systems for other ICES regional seas, such as the Barents Sea, the Nordic Seas and the Labrador Sea.

c) Assuming the endorsement by ICES of the quarterly IBTS North Sea Surveys as an element of the Initial Observing System of GOOS, a formal liaison between relevant IOC-GOOS bodies and the Steering Group should be developed to ensure the continued application of GOOS Principles

d) The ICES GOOS Programme component focused on the North Sea has the potential of offering the most comprehensive prototype integrated Coastal, Living Marine Resources and HOTO (Health Of The Oceans) system for the world community to consider.

GOOS Website

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