Report of the Working Group on Small Pelagic Fishes, their Ecosystems and Climate Impact (WGSPEC)

Small pelagic fishes comprise about one third of the world’s annual catch and play an important role in most coastal and shelf sea ecosystems in the ICES area. They are very sensitive to climate variability and serve as early indicators for ecosystem changes. The ICES Working Group on Small Pelagic Fishes, their Ecosystems and Climate Impact (WGSPEC) has a high priority because the impact of climate variabil-ity on small pelagic fishes and their ecosystems has been largely ignored at ICES, as ICES had put its focus on climate studies of larger predatory fish (cod) and more northern ecosystems. During its half day meeting, the WG discussed relevant subjects for future workshops and theme sessions, as requested by the ToRs. It recommends to organize over the next year three workshops in relation to climate impact on small pelagics and their ecosystems: 1) Workshop on Basin-wide Impact of Atlantic Mul-tidecadal Oscillation, AMO (WKAMO); 2) ICES/PICES Workshop on Reaction of Northern Hemisphere Ecosystems to the Climate Events in the Late 1980s: a Com-parison; 3) ICES/PICES Workshop on Climate-driven World-wide fluctuations in Small Pelagic Fish: Reviewing Growth Physiology, Revealing Mechanisms and Unify-ing Current Theories. This WG is an ideal vehicle to continue and strengthen collabo-ration with PICES which has been successfully started some years ago in the field of small pelagics and climate by joint workshops and theme sessions. Also, the new in-terest of ICES in strengthening collaboration with the regional Mediterranean Science Commission (CIESM) is reflected in WGSPEC, as there are various Mediterranean initiatives studying climate impact on small pelagics.