Report of the Working Group on Large Marine Ecosystem Programme Best Practices (WGLMEBP)

The first meeting of the ICES Working Group on Large Marine Ecosystems Best Prac-tices (WGLMEBP), co-chaired by Michael O’Toole and Jan Thulin, was held at the IOC/UNESCO headquarters in Paris on 6–7 July 2010. It was attended by 25 members representing senior scientists and project managers from several Large Marine Eco-systems (LMEs) in Africa, Asia, Latin America and northern Europe, ICES, IOC, NOAA, FAO, GEF:IW LEARN and a number of international institutions from Nor-way, Sweden, UK and Germany. The objectives of the Working Group meeting were to assess the current achieve-ments of some LME projects worldwide and to identify, review and synthesise best assessment and management practices. The Working Group also highlighted chal-lenges of LME management in terms of quality science, training and capacity build-ing as well as information sharing and outreach. One of the main points for discussion was on how best ICES could link with LMEs and offer scientific support, advice and expertise from its extensive experience in coordination of marine science in the North Atlantic.