Interim Report of the Working Group on Integrated Assessments of the North Sea (WGINOSE)

WGINOSE met at ICES HQ on 16–20 April, 2018. This was the second year for the group addressing its multi-annual ToRs (see below). The focus of the meeting was to continue to develop ToR D through the development of North Sea conceptual ecosys-tem models to support strata specific management and advice. This in part was achieved by participating in several intersessional workshops aimed at defining the structure of the models in consultation with different end-users. Work was also pro-gressed in relation to ToR C to assess a full range of human activities and pressures.Overall progress has been good, mainly as a result of working with other expert groups and seeking their input throughout the year, notably; WGMARS, WGNARS, WGIPEM, WGS2D, but participation at WGINOSE by individual experts continues to be low and more work is needed to convince certain relevant groups of the value, purpose, and role of WGINOSE specifically and in general the IEA groups as a whole.Moving forward it will be important to ensure that the scope of the strata specific con-ceptual models and tools being developed have the endorsement through co-develop-ment of a wider group of ICES expertise. This is a task, which we intend to pursue through writing papers and presenting work at the ASC, as well as making individual representations at relevant ICES expert groupsA key outcome was the prioritization of the North Sea strata for the development of conceptual models, a process that recognized the Skagerrak as the most fishing strata. Accordingly, it was suggested that an informal workshop over two days sometime be-tween 22 October and 2 November at ICES HQ would be useful in defining the com-ponents and model structure for the Skagerrak ecosystem. This would be achieved by inviting experts to join the workshop.The next meeting will be held at SLU in Gothenburg on 6–10 May 2019 to further refine the Skagerrak model and to initiate a dialogue with relevant stakeholders from the re-gion.