SCICOM Report 2017 - an annual report to the ICES Council to describe the scope, scale and impact of ICES science and plans for future science delivery

This annual report to the ICES Council summarises the scope, scale and impact of ICES science in 2017 and SCICOM plans for future science delivery.To date, 2017 has been a successful year for SCICOM and for ICES science. A new Aq-uaculture Steering Group has been established, bringing to five the number of SCICOM Steering Groups which address broad and enduring areas of science and ad-vice and currently 'parent' 98 Expert Groups. Four of these Steering Groups, including Aquaculture, gained new Chairs in 2017. These Chairs are working successfully in their new roles and there has been a growing focus on highlighting strong science in the network. Outputs during 2017 include reports, books and papers from the 98 SCICOM Expert Groups, attended to date by 1035 scientists, a successful Annual Science Con-ference attended by 556 attendees from 33 countries, and more active and visible links between science, data and advice. Four ICES co-sponsored symposia were run in 2017 and two further symposia will take place before the end of the year. Our Strategic Ini-tiatives on Climate Change effects on Marine Ecosystems and the Human Dimension have also been actively running and supporting workshops and symposia. Five ICES training courses were run in 2017, with two more to be completed. ICES has published six Co-operative Research Reports (CRR), two ICES Techniques in Marine Environ-mental Science (TIMES) and three Identification Leaflets in 2017.