Minutes of the meeting of the ICES Advisory Committee (ACOM), September 2025

Joint ACOM-SCICOM and Science SessionThe meeting began with welcomes and introductions, including new leadership appointments effective from January 2025. The session addressed ethics, conflicts of interest, and meeting etiquette. Key agenda items included the progress of the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Roadmap, ICES cooperative relationships, Applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) in ICES was introduced, and the Framework for Ecosystem-Informed Science and Advice (FEISA) where a board game exercise facilitated understanding of the science-to-advice process, highlighting the framework’s flexibility and complexity.Separate ACOM SessionThe ACOM Chair reviewed prior action points, noting progress on stock mixing evidence integration, benchmark guidelines revision, and the Quality Action Plan (QAP) implementation. Concerns were raised about the transition to the Regional Data Base Estimation System (RDBES), emphasizing institutional readiness and communication needs.ACOM then discussed the decision-making framework, focusing on definitions of 'best available science' and 'consensus.' Challenges include clarifying ICES’s mandate under the Precautionary Approach and integrating ecosystem-based management considerations. A subgroup was established to explore revising advice formats to incorporate risk and uncertainty, aiming for enhanced alignment with requesters’ needs and international practices.Updates to benchmark and advisory guidelines were presented. Integration efforts for ecosystem, fisheries, and aquaculture overviews are underway, including transitioning fisheries overviews to the interactive fisheriesXplorer platform, incorporating social, economic, and climate data.A revised prioritization process for special requests (SRs) was proposed, incorporating criteria such as strategic importance, capacity, management need, and synergies. Members expressed concerns about workload, transparency, and responsiveness, suggesting inclusion of request complexity and financial considerations. The proposal will be presented to MIRIA with noted reservations.ACOM approved a proposal to establish a new expert group on discard survival, tasked with reviewing studies, developing a survival database, and aiding the integration of findings into stock assessments. Changes to the 'ICES Guidance for completing single-stock advice' regarding incorporation of discard survival were also approved.The Advisory Plan progress was reviewed, highlighting five priority areas: quality assurance, process innovation, capacity building, ecosystem and climate-informed advice, and benefit communication. ACOM discussed the next steps on revising the reference point framework (WKREFRAME) for Category 1 and 2 stocks focused on decoupling stock status from operational reference points, incorporating productivity changes, and integrating ecosystem-based considerations.Updates were provided on the shrimp fisheries collection bags special request, the launch of a Cod Tiger Team focusing and planned formatting changes for North Atlantic salmon advice. A new tool to track ACOM forum comments was introduced to improve comment management.