Report of the Workshop on Redfish and Oceanographic Conditions (WKREDOCE)

The objective of the Workshop on Redfish and Oceanographic Conditions (WKREDOCE) is to analyze the distribution of pelagic redfish in the Irminger Sea and adjacent waters in relation to environmental changes. This workshop established as a response to a request from NEAFC to ICES. The first establishing meeting was at-tended by eight participants from Germany, Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and Russia. The meeting was chaired by Kristján Kristinsson (Iceland) on behalf of Dr. Hjálmar Hátún (Faroe Islands) who could not attend the meeting. The results of the first meeting are reported here.  
The meeting focused on data availability for further analyses of redfish distribution. It was agreed that for the oceanographic analysis two primary data sets that has already been compiled should be used with supplementary data if needed. For redfish distribution, data from various redfish surveys that have been conducted in the area since 1982 and the Russian ichthyoplankton survey 1982-1995 will be the main sources. Other data include fisheries data since the commence of the fishery in 1982. It was also agreed that the preliminary analysis should proceed by correspondence between workshop participants and include experts from each lab.
Following recommendation were agreed: 1) that the next meeting should be a two-day meeting 23-24 March 2012 to enable establishing connection with the Working Group of Oceanic Hydrography (WGOH); 2) the data analysis should proceed by correspondence; 3) to decide by correspondence on two external experts financed by NEAFC and contact them.
Financial issues of this workshop were discussed during the meeting and it was a common understanding that the work (salaries and travel cost) should be paid by external sources and not by individual institutions.  
Time-availability of several participants was also a matter of concern, particularly when it comes to conduct the preparation work, data analysis, and the meeting attendance. Most members of the workshop are already involved in other working groups and projects and concern were raised whether the workshop will have sufficient manpower to carry out the analysis and requests.