Ecosystem based management (EBM) was first on ICES agenda in 1992, when the Working Group on Ecosystem Effects of Fishing Activities (WGECO) began taking its application and scope into consideration. Since then the approach has grown into an important strategic area and is currently seen as the primary way of managing human activities that interact with marine ecosystems – and the key to a sustainable future. ICES role is to provide the evidence that will form the basis of the decision-making that is a central element of EBM. This enables the trade-offs in the management of and between sectors plying their trade in and around the ocean, as well as the services provided by marine life and habitats, to be explored.
Information on ICES work with ecosystem based management is now presented in the form of a new flyer. The visual document shows the products developed in support of the approach – fishing opportunity advice which is responsive to ecosystem change, ecosystem overviews, and forthcoming fisheries overviews – and the means through which it is accomplished, such as the data centre, expert groups, and partner organizations and institutions.
Applying ecosystem based management is also guided by the use of integrated ecosystem assessments (IEAs), which a number of expert groups are working on specific sea regions.