Report of the Workshop on Spatial Analyses for the Baltic Sea 2 (WKSPATIAL)

The ICES Workshop on Spatial Analyses for the Baltic Sea 2 (WKSPATIAL2) met inRiga, Latvia, 8–10 November 2016 (Chairs: Stefan Neuenfeldt, Denmark, and MicheleCasini, Sweden), with 12 participants and 4 countries represented.WKSPATIAL was held as second continuation of the Study Group on Spatial Analysesfor the Baltic Sea (SGSPATIAL) that terminated its 3-year mandate in 2014. The broadaims of WKSPATIAL were to: 1) continue investigating the cod stomach contents fromthe EU tender with particular emphasis on the spatio-temporal changes, the relation toprey availability and environmental condition, and the link to cod growth/condition;2) start investigating the relation between cod food intake and condition/growth, 3)continue investigating the spatial dynamics in quantitative and qualitative feeding ofsprat and herring and identify their dietary overlap, and 4) investigate and identifypossibilities for spatially-explicit multispecies models for fish species including thenew stomach contents information.Predator–prey overlap, juvenile cod growth and availability of benthic food were parameters suggested by WKSPATIAL2 to be included in future cannibalism models ormultispecies models in which cannibalism is incorporated.