ICES has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the governments of the Faroe Islands and Greenland this week. With this, ICES will provide scientific information and advice relating to the North Atlantic and its adjacent seas, with emphasis on the areas around the Faroe Islands and Greenland respectively. The agreement includes annual advice on fishing opportunities, as well as information on the state of marine ecosystems and the impacts of human activities as well as advice on an ad hoc basis.
The MoU signifies a continuation and expansion of cooperation and acts as an example of maintaining trust of governments that request advice from ICES. ICES welcomes the novel challenges that come when providing advice to the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The Arctic, climate, stock mixing, and alternative management approaches enrich the portfolio of ICES science leading to advice.
Overviews for the Faroe and Greenland ecoregions
Aquaculture will be a priority for ICES and the Faroe Islands. Earlier in 2023, ICES published an Aquaculture Overview for the Faroes ecoregion. With a technologically advanced aquaculture industry, the Faroes are currently regarded as leaders in many aspects of aquaculture production. The Faroes ecoregion is the third ICES ecoregion to have an Aquaculture Overview published. ICES has published a Fisheries Overview for the ecoregion and later in 2023 will complete the overview portfolio for the region with the publication of an Ecosystem Overview.
In 2020, ICES published an Ecosystem Overview for the Greenland Sea which provides users - managers, policy-makers, institutes, scientists, and the public - with access to an overview of the ecosystem and related information.
Closer cooperation
Lotte Worsøe Clausen, Head of ICES Advice Department welcomes the new MoU, “This is an important MoU as it links ICES more closely with these two countries and their advisory needs as well as being an important link to the Arctic".
This Memorandum of Understanding took effect as of 1 November 2023 and will be reviewed and possibly revised every third year.
