Aquaculture, Big Data, mixed fisheries, global partnerships, and the impacts of COVID-19 all receive attention in our review of the organization's activities for 2020.
2020 was a year like no other for our community. As an international organization that regularly welcomes participants to various activities – working group meetings, workshops, science symposia, training courses – from all around the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted everything.
ICES President, Fritz Köster, extended his support and gratitude to all members of the community for maintaining their level of commitment to our scientific work. “It is a challenging and difficult situation for all of us, with severe impact on all citizens and society and not least our organization. It is good to see how quickly we in ICES were able to adapt by changing working procedures, most importantly a rapid change from physical expert group meetings to online activity. This ensures that important work is organized and accomplished despite the present restrictions”.
Evolving ecosystem-based advice
ICES considers ecosystem-based management as the primary way to manage human activities affecting marine ecosystems. To reflect this, a new Guide to ICES advisory framework and principles was published and both our Ecosystem Overviews and Fishieries Overviews series were extended to cover the Greenland Sea, Azores, and Oceanic Northeast Atlantic ecoregions.
We'll meet again
Anne Christine Brusendorff, ICES General Secretary echoes the words of Köster - and thanks the community for all their dedication. After the postponement of the Annual Science Conference 2020 in Copenhagen, she invites the community to regroup in 2021. "The year 2020 offered many challenges but also opportunities; the outlook is promising as we continue with our 'new normal'. We look forward to welcoming you to our Annual Science Conference, taking place online 6–9 September 2021".
ICES Annual Report 2020 is now available to view and download, in both English and French.
