REPORT OF THE Working Group on Fish Ecology

The Terms of Reference for the Working Group on Fish Ecology (WGFE, Chair: J. Ellis, CEFAS, UK) are that it will meet in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 3-7 March 2003 to:(a) In preparation for development of objectives and reference levels for EcoQOs related to changes in the proportion of large fish, average weight and average maximum length of the fish communityi) analyse trends in these features over time for appropriate survey data sets from the North Sea and other seasii) evaluate data and trends in other characteristics of fish communities which reflect the same information as in i)iii) where possible identify levels of the properties in i) and ii) that can be taken as indicative of various states of the marine ecosystem (i.e., serve as potential reference levels).