Report of the ICES/AMAP/CAFF/PAME Workshop on Integrated Ecosystem Assessment (IEA) for the Central Arctic Ocean (WKICA)

The joint ICES/AMAP/CAFF/PAME Workshop on Integrated Ecosystem Assessment (IEA) for the Arctic Ocean (WKICA) met in Bergen, Norway, 28–29 May 2015. Eight-een participants from five countries (Canada, Iceland, Norway, Russia and USA) at-tended the workshop.The purpose of an IEA for the central Arctic Ocean (ToR a) was seen as twofold: 1) provide a holistic and integrated view on the status, trends and pressures, and 2) con-tribute to implementation of the EA to management of the central Arctic Ocean. Re-garding the review of data and information that could be used for an IEA (ToR b), the meeting noted findings from an Inventory of Arctic Research and Monitoring (IARM) resulting from the Third Meeting of Scientific Experts on Fish Stocks in the Central Arctic Ocean in April 2015.The geographical scope of an IEA (ToR c) should include the Central Arctic Ocean LME and the slope regions of the adjacent shelf LMEs and also shelf portions where relevant. The fluxes and properties of water through the Atlantic and Pacific gateways need also to be taken into account when addressing physical and biological variability of the ba-sins of the Arctic Ocean.