Report of the ICES/HELCOM Working Group on Integrated Assessments of the Baltic Sea (WGIAB)

The  ICES/HELCOM  Working  Group  on  Integrated  Assessments  of  the  Baltic  Sea  (WGIAB) was set up as a forum for developing and combining ecosystem‐based management efforts for the Baltic Sea. The group is intended to serve as a counterpart and support for the ICES Baltic Fisheries Assessment Working Group (WGBFAS) as well as for related HELCOM assessment efforts and projects. The group was estab‐lished in 2007. The work of the group during previous years has been focused on conducting holistic ecosystem analyses based on large multivariate datasets, in order to increase under‐standing of biological patterns and processes affecting ecosystem level changes in the region,  and  on  considering  ecosystem  modelling  in  an  integrated  assessment  and  management framework.