Emory Anderson
The history chronicles the context, development, types of advice proffered, internal views of the 11 different Chairs, external views of ACFM expressed in several published papers, and problems still facing ICES advisory programme. The account spans the lifetime of ACFM from its first meeting in 1978 to its last in 2007, but also details the events and thinking that led to its establishment by the Council in 1977 replacing the former Liaison Committee, the previous ICES advisory body on fishery matters.
Those familiar with ACFM or those who were among the hundreds of scientists either serving on the committee or who were members of the many assessment working groups that provided the scientific basis for the advice recommended by ACFM will enjoy reading this history. The internal views either written by the individual Chairs or summarized from their writings will bring back fond memories of the hard work, long hours, humour, and comradery experienced by participants during the twice-yearly ACFM meetings held at ICES Copenhagen headquarters.
Of particular interest is Annex 1 which provides a complete list of the participants of each of the twice-yearly meetings. For trivia buffs, as noted in section 6.11, of the active members present at the final meeting in October 2007, Yuri Efimov (Russia) had the highest ACFM meeting attendance (26 meetings), but Bengt Sjöstrand (Sweden), then retired, ranked highest with 31 meetings.
The preparation of this history was a work in progress for a number of years and involved a number of individuals. Although Kjartan Hoydal, the second ACFM Chair (1981–1982), is the editor of this CRR, most of the other Chairs as well as most of the former ACFM Secretaries contributed to the publication in some way.
