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

The ICES Workshop on Spatial Analyses for the Baltic Sea (WKSPATIAL) met in Rome, Italy, 3–6 November 2015 (Chairs: Michele Casini, Sweden, and Stefan Neuen-feldt, Denmark), with 15 participants and 6 countries represented.WKSPATIAL was held as continuation of the Study Group on Spatial Analyses for the Baltic Sea (SGSPATIAL) that terminated its 3-year mandate in 2014. The broad aims of WKSPATIAL were to 1) continue investigating the cod stomach contents from the EU tender with particular emphasis on the spatio-temporal changes, the relation to prey availability and environmental condition, and the link to cod growth/condition; 2) start investigating the spatio-temporal relation between zoo-plankton and pelagic fish stomach content in the Gulf of Riga, and 3) continue inves-tigating the small-scale properties of fish spatial distribution, as pelagic fish schools characteristics (size, density, distance, etc.). Aims n°1 and 2 were fulfilled, whereas aim n°3 could not be realized because of the lack of expertize in the group attending the Workshop.