Report of the Benchmark Workshop on sharing information on the Irish Sea ecosystem, stock assessments and fisheries issues, and scoping needs for assessment and management advice (WKIrish1)

The ICES Benchmark Workshop on the impact of ecosystem and environmental driv-ers on Irish Sea fisheries management (WKIrish1) was convened in Dublin, Ireland, 14–15 September 2015. There were 27 participants. These included representatives from the fisheries institutes with an interest in the region (MI, AFBI, Cefas and ILVO), as well as the Scottish Association for Marine Science and the Welsh Government. Stakeholder participation covered both the industry (NWWAC, NFFO(UK), Irish Fish Producers Organisation, and Irish South and East Fish Producers’ Organisation), and the NGO participation from the Irish Seal Sanctuary, ClientEarth and the Marine Conservation Society. The meeting was chaired by David Reid (Ireland), Robert Thorpe (UK) and Scott Large (Denmark).