Guide to ICES advisory framework and principles

ICES Advisory Plan establishes the ecosystem approach as the central tenet that governs how ICES provides independent advice on the management of human activities in our seas and oceans. Through its advice, ICES strives to advance and share scientific understanding of marine socio-ecological systems and the services they provide to meet conservation, management, and sustainability goals in a changing world.

In implementing ICES Science Plan, ICES scientific community seeks to produce ecosystem and sustainability science that has a high and beneficial impact on society. One way these benefits are realized is through the translation of science into advice. Another way is through collaborations with scientists from outside ICES Member Countries and with intergovernmental organizations from across the world. Our understanding and knowledge is constantly evolving through ongoing exploration and discovery, spanning topics from genetics and the biology of unicellular organisms to large-scale oceanographic and climate processes.

ICES advisory process is open and transparent and generates independent, credible, and peer-reviewed advice based on the work of ICES scientific community. All experts are called on to declare any conflicts of interest. ICES operates under a code of ethics and professional conduct. The diversity of scientific topics addressed allows ICES to provide advice on issues ranging from the effects of contaminants on individual animals to the status of fish stocks and the effects of multiple human pressures and climate at the scale of ICES ecoregions. ICES recognises the role and importance of both social and natural sciences in informing ecosystem-based management of human activities and strives to further develop and integrate both science streams in its advice.