Publication Reports ICES business reports

 

Working Group on Science to Support Conservation, Restoration and Management of Diadromous Species (WGDIAD, formerly WGRECORDS), was established to provide a forum for the coordination of work on diadromous species following the disbanding of the Diadromous Fish Committee. The role of the Group is to  coordinate  work  on  diadromous  species,  organize Expert Groups, Theme Sessions and Symposia, and help to deliver the ICES Science Plan. The Annual Meeting received reports from ICES Expert Groups and workshops working on diadromous species, and considered their progress and future requirements. During the meeting, the following areas were discussed in more detail:•Outcomes and deliverables from ICES EGs on diadromous fish during the last year;•A progress report on the International Year of the Salmon (IYS);•A progress report of the work of the  Intersessional Sub Group Diadromous fish (ISSGDiad)  of  the  Regional  Coordination  Groups  (RCGs).  The  subgroup  has  a  coordinatingfunction and identifies data collection needs for diadromous species in relation to the EUdata collection regulation;•The ongoing work within ICES to evaluate the stock assessment methods used by indi-vidual countries in their national eel management plans, and the importance of coordi-nation at the international level;•A report from The Workshop on relevant geographical area on the temporal migrationpatterns of European eel (WKEELMIGRATION), in response to the EU request for ICESadvice on the effectiveness of the fishing closure periods set up by the Member States inview of deciding on possible future measures to further enhance the protection and re-covery of the stock of European eel;•A theme session proposal for the ICES ASC 2022, to be submitted in 2021, on exotic spe-cies (and stocks) and their affect on native species and their fisheries;•A discussion on a formal ICES/WGDIAD link with diadromous fish scientists in the Pa-cific within organizations   such as the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES)and North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC);•A report from The Workshop on Evaluating the Draft Baltic Salmon Management Planmeetings (WKBaltSalMPI and II) on the progress developing a salmon management planfor the Baltic Sea;•A discussion on collaborating with other ICES EGs relevant to diadromous fish such asWorking Group on Biological Parameters (WGBIOP);•And  establishing  links  with  organizations  outside  ICES  working  on  diadromous  fishsuch as the World Fish Migration Foundation and the International Union for Conservation.

The Annual Meeting of ICES Expert Group Chairs (WGCHAIRS)  provides  an  opportunity  for  chairs of all ICES working groups to share experiences and ideas, co-ordinate work, meet with their  Steering  Group,  Advisory  Committee  and  Science  Committee  chairs,  and  highlight  any  support they need from the ICES network. The group also provides participants with updates on developments in the network and their implications, as well as opportunities to identify fu-ture science priorities and plans for advisory products.  This 2021 meeting report contains advice-related, science-related and cross-cutting  issues.  The  meeting in 2021 included an extra day for incoming chairs, covering an introduction on the re-sponsibilities for chairs, an introduction to the guidelines for ICES groups and a forum to express expectations and ask questions for the chairs. Advice topics that are addressed include the bench-mark  system,  reference  points,  the  impact  of  COVID-19  on  the  advice  delivery,  an  update  on  Viewpoints and the advisory work plan for 2021. Science topics that are addressed included an overview on hybrid and online meetings, open sessions and an update of the ASC 2021, an over-view  on  the  new  resolution  forms  and  the  database,  an  update  on  reporting  needs,  an  intro-duction to the new library system that will be launched later in 2021 and an update on science highlights, dissemination and communications. Cross-cutting topics included an update on ex-ecutive summaries, an introduction to the guide to ICES advice, an update on Ecosystem Over-views, gender and inclusivity in ICES – reflection on “Picture a Scientist” and relevance for Ex-pert  Group  work,  and  an  introduction  to  Meeting  Etiquette  and  Code  of  Conduct.  A  group  of  Ex-pert Group chairs organised the second half of the joint day with a presentation by Kenneth Rose on challenges of communicating science in today's social and political climate and discus-sion on the topic in breakout groups. The day concluded with a social activity, an escape room game.Key actions resulting from chairs’ insights are to establish an easy access to the items relevant for Expert Group chairs from the guidelines for ICES groups, e.g. as a FAQ webpage, adding the example of an executive summary for stock assessment groups to the guidelines for ICES groups, provide  social  media  guidelines  for  ICES  community  in  order  to  avoid  any  violation  of  copy-rights, GDPR matters, or privacy.

The Working Group on Governance of the Regional Database & Estimation System (WGRDBES-GOV) provides the governance function for both the existing Regional Database (RDB) and the new  Regional  Database  &  Estimation  System  (RDBES)  that  is  currently  in  development.  It  is composed  of  representatives  from  ICES  member  countries  and  EU  Regional  Coordination Groups (RCGs). In this report, the WGRDBESGOV reviews the RDBES developments performed during 2020 and plans for the work required in 2021 and beyond. It also considers how RDB data has been used and proposes changes required to the current Data Policy.The RDBES is currently planned to replace both the existing ICES InterCatch and RDB database systems and has an important part to play in increasing transparency and improving the quality of stock assessment within ICES. To this end, two workshops have been planned for 2021 which will help  data submitters  with the  transition to the  new  system. A new  working group  is also proposed to enable the ICES community to move forward with estimation using the RDBES data model. Following on from the data call issued in 2020, another test data call is also planned for 2021 which will give further motivation for people to become involved and provide a robust test of the process. The RDB and RDBES must ensure that data can be used by the RCGs and authorised groups in ICES whilst ensuring that only permitted users have access to the confidential data –the rules relating to this have previously been defined in the RDB Data Policy. In line with discussions at the ICES Data and Information Group (DIG), it is proposed to split the current Data Policy into two new documents: a Data License, and a Data Governance document.It is important to remember  that the  ultimate  success  of the  RDBES will rely on the  effort  and contributions from alarge number of people in the wider ICES/EU data collection community and not just the relatively small groups who attend the WGRDBESGOV or Core Group meetings. The WGRDBESGOV continues to encourage these contributions.

The Science Committee (SCICOM) met remotely and received updates on ongoing activities and discussed strategic developments relevant to the Committee.
Strategic issues included updates on activities within the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sus-tainable Development and the joint group with the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES), on activities on gender, diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as updates on increasing the engagement with physical and chemical oceanographers and the work of the Ecosystem Based Management (EBM) group.
SCICOM started a process to identify ways of increasing engagement with national activities and national priorities, as well as how international collaboration with other organisations can be strengthened and extended.
The Steering Groups (SG) gave a short update on their work, having now short regular meetings with Expert Group (EG) chairs and between SGs to increase communication and coordination.
Updates from the Operational Groups included the implementation of the new library system on the ICES webpage (Science Impact and Publications Group, SIPG) and the new online format for training courses (Training Group, TG). SCICOM supported the recommendation of new data policies and licensing schemes presented by the Data and Information Group (DIG). The Strate-gic Initiative on the Human Dimension has initiated meetings with relevant EGs.
The Secretariat gave an update on the development of the Resource Coordination Tool (RCT) and presented a draft of an online portal and dashboard, informed about a video project to highlight the work of EGs across the network through interviews with Early Career Scientists (ECS). The Chair of the Advisory Committee (ACOM) gave an update on developments in advice, including the advice in 2020, the process of advice production and the identification of science needs for advice.
Key actions from the meeting included SCICOM support of an initiative to develop a Strategic Initiative on Early Career Scientists, the approval of the “Symposium on Capelin – The canary in predicting effects of climate on the Arctic marine environment” to be held in 2022 and the “5th International Symposium on the Effects of Climate Change on the World’s Oceans (ECCWO)” to be held in 2023, and the further actions in relation to the Annual Science Conference (ASC) in 2021 and 2022. The 2021 ASC will be held as a fully virtual conference and SCICOM appointed the Award Selection Group. The ASC 2022 will be held as a hybrid conference in Dublin, Ireland, and SCICOM appointed the ASC 2022 Group tasked to do the pre-selection of 2022 theme and network session proposals for final approval by SCICOM.

The meeting of the operational ICES Data and Information Group (DIG) was convened to progress and finalize ongoing actions to support all data related work at ICES. Five key areas were
progressed during the meeting, accreditation of ICES Data Centre, World Data System membership, Framework for data/products outside of normal data management flow, ICES Data Centre
activities and DIG support and the development of a Data preservation plan and a total of 16
ongoing actions for intersessional work in the group is planned for the next year.
After two years of work ICES Data Centre achieved accreditation under the Core Trust Seal (CTS)
on 22 March 2021. Being accredited by CTS means that thework being performed at the ICES
Data Centre is recognized in the wider international data management community as state of the
art. The accreditation has also opened the possibility for ICES to apply for membership in the
World Data System (WDS). Members of DIG who has experience as WDS members gave input
on their own experiences with such a membership.
The work on creating a framework for data and products outside of the normal data management flow has been progressing intersessionally and the outline for a data profiling tool that is
being developed was finalized and is planned to be tested out on relevant working groups in
the coming months. Progress on the decision tree for ad hoc datasets is good and is planned to
be ready in time for this year’s SCICOM and ACOM meetings in the fall of 2021.
Developments at the ICES Data Centre are continuing to align with FAIR principles (Findable,
Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) with projects further integrating data and advice in the
new data portal. The new and updated data policy and licenses for both open and restricted data
was finalized by DIG and the ICES Data Centre earlier this year and SCICOM has decided to
progress it for a decision to adopt the package at this year’s ICES Council meeting.
DIG started work on a Data Preservation Plan during this year’s meeting after reviewers of the
CTS application pointed out that such a plan did not exist. A data preservation plan will bring
together and describe information about the whole lifecycle for datasets being managed by the
ICES Data Centre in a single document.