The marine science community was warmly welcomed to Dublin by Paul Connolly, Chief Executive Officer of the Marine Institute and Irish delegate to ICES, as the Annual Science Conference (ASC) opened this morning.
Having been unable to meet in person since 2019, Ireland and the Irish delegates are proud to host the first in-person ASC post-COVID. Charlie mc Conalogue, Irish Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, welcomed ICES community to Ireland and highlighted the importance of international scientific collaboration and cooperation. As well as providing the first opportunity for the community to gather together in three years, ICES ASC 2022 is the first time that the conference is offered as a hybrid model - and while more than 500 scientists are taking part in Dublin, there are a further 200+ joining proceedings from around the world online.
Both audiences were treated to a musical and visual treat as the Irish Chamber Orchestra performed Symphony Nr. 3 Movement 3 by Philip Glass. Connolly hoped this performance by the composer from the east coast of the United States would act as a connection across the North Atlantic and would inspire and nurture networking over the week ahead.
The heroes of the next decade are scientists
ICES President William Karp introduced the newly instated ICES General Secretary Alan Haynie to the community. Inspired by Joyce's Ulysses, Haynie spoke about the everyday heroism of science and its potential to change the world. He encouraged ICES network to show this heroism in the challenge of sustainably using and preserving the marine environment. "Big challenges call for big ideas", Haynie stated, asking early career scientists, and everyone, to voice their wildest ideas, "Be bold, we will support you".
Recognising colleagues
Each year, ICES presents the Outstanding Achievement Award to a member of the community who has made ongoing important contributions to our organization in the field of marine science over a sustained period of time. Every third year, ICES presents the Prix d'Excellence. This recognizes the highest level of achievement in marine sciences and important contributions to ICES vision. Like the community ICES envisions, this award is broader than the organization.
The recipients of these awards over the past few years could not be recognised in person and so were invited to the Opening ceremony to receive their awards in person today.
Kenneth T. Frank, Canada (Prix d'Excellence 2020), Clara Ulrich, France (Outstanding Achievement 2020), and David Reid, Ireland (Outstanding Achievement 2021) all expressed their honour at having been nominated and chosen to receive such prestigious acknowledgements by the community.
Outstanding Achievement
Manuela Azevedo, Portugal was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award for 2022. Azevedo was hailed for her energetic work within ICES advice over the past three decades and for long-term commitment to the many expert groups she was a member of.
Climate change impacts on the North Atlantic
Presenting Ireland as an ocean nation, the opening panel discussion featured four Irish perspectives on the impacts that climate changes has or will have on North Atlantic and Irish waters - featuring talks on oceanography, fisheries, Blue Carbon, and climate justice.
Gerard McCarthy, Irish Climate Research and Analysis Unit (ICARUS), Maynooth University, spoke about how changes in the wider North Atlantic impact on ocean climate in Irish waters.
Dave Reid, Marine Institute Ireland, explored the changes in the distributions of fish species around Ireland, stating that fishing pressure remains the main driver for fish distributions, not climate. Grace M. Cott, University College Dublin, focus was on the impact of climate change on Ireland's Blue Carbon habitats, such as saltwater marshes. Eimear Manning, National Youth Council of Ireland, finished by examining how all this, often conflicting, evidence appears in the wider social dimension in the context of Climate Justice.