Report of the Working Group on Ecosystem As-sessment of Western European Shelf Seas (WGEAWESS)

The Working Group on Ecosystem Assessment of Western European Shelf Seas (WGEAWESS) met in Lisbon, Portugal from 11 – 15 February 2013. The meeting was co-Chaired by Dr.Maria de Fatima Borges (Portugal) and Dr. Enrique Nogueira (Spain). Apologies were accepted from the co-chair Prof Dave Reid who could not attend this meeting. There were 13 participants representing 7 nations. WGEAWESS is a working group which works to develop the science-base for Integrated Ecosys-tem Assessments (IEA) in the Western of European Shelf Seas. The group works to-wards this goal in cooperation with similar groups within the ICES SCICOM Steering Group on the Regional Seas Programme (SSGRSP). The broad objectives of the group are i. to develop and inform links between ecosystem assessment objectives and operational monitoring requirements, ii. to develop approaches and use of models to inform on the possible outcomes of management actions at the ecosystem level and iii. to coordinate and contribute to the preparation of ecosystem overviews to inform management advice. An important output of this meeting was the establishment of a ‘core‘ set of ecosystem variables/components covering a range of industrial sector, human activities and pressures. The data associated with this list should be operationally updated and assessed annually by WGEAWESS so as to provide the necessary input to the ecosystem overviews required by ICES for advice.