Report of the ICES Advisory Committee of the Marine Environment, 1993

From 1972 until 1992, environmental advice from ICES was given through the Advisory Committee on Marine Pollution (ACMP). In 1992, the ACMP was dissolved and a new Committee, the Advisory Committee on the Marine Environment (ACME), was established. The purpose of establishing this new Advisory Committee was to treat the discussion of environmental issues within ICES in a broader perspective. Thus, it is the intention that this new Committee will assess and report on the present state of knowledge regarding the risks to the marine environment and its biota from a wide range of causes including contaminants, fishing activity, marine sand and gravel extraction, diseases, introductions and enhancements, changes in nutrient inputs, and changes in climate. The ACME held its first meeting from 1-11 June 1993.At this meeting, a significant proportion of the time and energy available was devoted to consideration of the remit, goals and working procedures of this new Committee. In addition, a scientific review of the North Sea Task Force's Quality Status Report on the North Sea was carried out during this meeting. The present report reflects mainly the discussion carried out at the ACME meeting that dealt directly with requests for advice made by the Commissions to ICES and should, therefore not be interpreted as a review of all activities that were carried out at the meeting. The ACME will, during the course of the coming year, be examining its reporting procedures and in that context would welcome input in the form of written comments from any readers or users of this report with respect to the present form of the report and how it could be improved.