Progress towards ecosystem-based management (EBM) has been slow despite multiple government's committing to its implementation. Technical challenges and the uncertainty of complex models are often cited as primary reasons for the slow integration of ecosystem information into management decisions. There is growing consensus that the structural inertia of management systems has also hindered EBM. Calls to implement EBM are growing, with the foresight that it is better to act now with the information we have than to halt progress in the face of climate and biodiversity emergencies.
Understanding the structure of marine food webs and how they, as well as the services they support, respond when perturbed is a fundamental prerequisite of EBM. This understanding can help to identify social, economic, and ecological trade-offs and assess the risks of ocean uses as well as the risks of failing to respond to pressures such as climate change.
Food web research is renowned across the ICES community and ICES are seeing growing requests for ecosystem-based advice.
This workshop is designed to review the latest advances in food web research, explore needs and pragmatic solutions for integration into ICES advice, and consider how complex food web models can be more systematically applied across ICES ecoregions.
Making food web information operational requires a trans-disciplinary approach. We are therefore seeking contributors with a range of skills and knowledge. This would include food web ecologists and specialists, multi-species and single species modellers, fisheries scientists, and social scientists working in the social-ecological systems and ecosystem services arena.
We encourage in-person participation, but online participation will also be possible.
