Report of the Study Group on VMS data, its storage, access and tools for analysis (SGVMS)

The Study Group on VMS data, its storage, access and tools for analysis (SGVMS) took place in Hamburg, 8–9 September 2010. Heino Fock and Vanessa Stelzenmüller chaired the meeting with 16 participants from 8 nations. SGVMS was initiated by WGDIM recognizing that in the context of rapidly evolving methodologies of VMS data analysis and emerging requirements with regard to ad-vice for European policies and the ICES Science Plan, a structured approach to hold-ing and accessing VMS data are essential.