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The International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) is a scientific organization based in Copenhagen, Denmark.  ICES "coordinates and promotes marine research in the North Atlantic"\[1\]  with the help and expertise of more than 1600 scientists from its twenty member countries.\[2\]   ICES uses its research to create cohesive marine management plans for its members.

The ICES vision is to develop "an international scientific community that is relevant, responsive, sound, and credible concerning marine ecosystems and their relation to humanity."  The organization hopes to achieve the vision by advancing "the scientific capacity to give advice on human activities affecting, and affected by, marine ecosystems."  \[3\]  Specifically, ICES has defined ten major goals in its Strategic Plan:\[4\]Understand the physical, chemical, and biological functioning of marine ecosystems;

Understand and quantify human impacts on marine ecosystems, including living marine resources;

Evaluate options for sustainable marine-related industries, particularly fishing and mariculture;

Advise on the sustainable use of living marine resources and protection of the marine environment;

Enhance collaboration with organizations, scientific programs, and stake-holders (including the fishing industry) that are relevant to the ICES goals;

Maintain and further develop a modern and effective infrastructure to support ICES programs;

Keep abreast of the needs and expectations of ICES Member Countries;

Broaden the diversity of the scientists who participate in ICES activities;

Match the budget of ICES to the needs and expectations for scientific information and advice;

Make the scientific products of ICES more accessible to the public.

The three Advisory Committees oversee the work of all of ICES's scientific and working groups.\[6\]   The Advisory Committees, on fishery management, marine environment, and ecosystem management, each work to support one of the three major components of ICES advice.

The biggest benefit that ICES provides to the world of marine management is its advice service.  ICES primarily gives advice in response to requests by member nations, but it may issue unsolicited advice if it feels the need.\[7\]   ICES has historically given advice based on single or mixed stock population and mortality targets, but is now beginning to introduce a comprehensive, ecosystem based approach to its advice.\[8\]

An ICES advice report is given for a specific region of the ocean that has unique ecological and social characteristics.  These regions are referred to as "ecoregions" by ICES.\[9\]   Each ecoregion report contains an overview section, a report on human impacts on the region, and an assessment of ecological trends in the region and advice based upon those trends.

All ICES advice starts with analysis of single and mixed stock statistics (most notably fishing mortality and spawning stock biomass).  The analysis combines publicly available catch data with ICES estimates for Unaccounted Fishing Mortality (UFM) to create estimates for the stocks fishing mortality rate.  ICES uses historical records to develop critical limits on the spawning stock biomass; outside these limits the stock is considered to have "reduced reproductive capability."\[10\]   The stock is then classified on its reproductive capacity and sustainability (which ICES uses to mean ability to withstand a population crash at status quo fishing intensity).\[11\]   These stock parameters are also used to create boundaries on fishing mortality rates and spawning stock biomass values for use in management plans.

ICES continues by analyzing the effectiveness of different management plans for their ability to improve the health of the stock and their compliance with any international or national agreements to which the ecoregion may be subject.  In general, plans are considered acceptable if they show that there is very little (less than 5%) chance that the plan will result in a spawning stock biomass less than the already defined critical level.\[12\]

+Works Cited+
\[1\]   "About us - What do we do?," [http://www.ices.dk/aboutus/aboutus.asp] (accessed November 15, 2007)
\[2\]  Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America are members of ICES.  Australia, Chile, Greece, New Zealand, Peru, and South Africa are affiliate countries.
\[3\]  The ICES Strategic Plan (Copenhagen, DK: International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, 2002), [http://www.ices.dk/iceswork/strategic%20plan-final.pdf] (accessed November 15, 2007).
\[4\]  Ibid.
\[5\]  Ibid.
\[6\]  "About us - ICES Structure," [http://www.ices.dk/aboutus/structure.asp] (accessed November 15, 2007).
\[7\]  Report of the ICES Advisory Committee on Fishery Management, Advisory Committee on the Marine Environment and Advisory Committee on Ecosystems, 2006.
\[8\]  Ibid.
\[9\]  Ibid.
\[10\]  Ibid.
\[11\]  Ibid.
\[12\]  Ibid.