Report of the Working Group on the Northwest Atlantic Regional Sea (WGNARS)

The third meeting of Working Group on the Northwest Atlantic Regional Sea (WGNARS), chaired by Steve Cadrin, USA, and Catherine Johnson, Canada, was held at Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Falmouth, MA, USA, on 6–8 March 2012. The meeting was well-attended, with 47 participants from the US, Canada, and Sweden. The overarching objective of the group is to develop an Inte-grated Ecosystem Assessment (IEA) of the Northwest Atlantic region to support eco-system approaches to science and management. The NW Atlantic region has well-developed ocean observation systems, ecosystem surveys and habitat studies, but it remains a challenge to organize existing information and effectively communicate it to stakeholders and decision-makers. In the words of William Pollard: "Information is a source of learning. But unless it is organized, processed, and available to the right people in a format for decision making, it is a burden, not a benefit."