González-Pola et al. 
ICES-WGOH Assessment on Ocean Climate 
Frontiers in Marine Science | www.frontiersin.org 
5 
March 2019 | Volume 6 | Article 103 
has set the Marine Strategy Framework Directive 4 (MSFD) as 
a legal framework to protect the marine environment from 
anthropogenic pressures across European waters. Contrary to 
large initiatives within GOOS in which sampling relies on 
voluntary efforts by institutions and countries, the MSFD 
enforces the establishment of (i) monitoring programs, (ii) 
objective environmental targets and (iii) a program of measures 
designed to achieve or maintain an objectively defined “Good 
Environmental Status”. Ocean Climate conditions are considered 
by the MSFD as an indirect anthropogenic pressure on the ocean 
environment, hence the monitoring of large-scale hydrographic 
conditions is a background prerequisite required for the MSFD 
as a whole. Interpretations on whether the MSFD enforces 
the development of specific large-scale monitoring programs 
for the background basic ocean variables have been varied 
(González et al., 2016). 
As indicated, this profusion of ocean climate reporting raises 
concern about the current degree of complementarity and/or 
redundancy. Accordingly, the WGOH is concerned that the 
IROC remains relevant, distinguished in purpose and value 
to its users. The essential question, common to any report- 
producing team, is whether it is useful to end-users and if so 
how it should evolve to become more useful. Success requires 
a solid understanding of user needs. Sitting within the ICES, a 
body organized to encourage interdisciplinary networking, the 
WGOH-IROC is in a unique position to provide information and 
advice that is timely and relevant to the management of living 
marine resources. Oceanographic conditions are fundamental to 
understanding and predicting species distribution, forecasting 
recruitment, improving ecological models, etc. but marine 
ecology/fisheries scientists find it difficult to distinguish between 
available environmental products and effectively apply them 
to their work (ICES, 2018). The WGOH delivers expertise 
through the IROC and member engagement, which is becoming 
increasingly important as focus continues to shift toward 
ecosystem-based approaches for the management of marine 
resources (Dickey-Collas, 2014). 
Several WGOH members are closely engaged with fisheries 
and environmental management activities, participating in 
multidisciplinary assessments and studies. In our experience, 
collaborators typically seek a succinct summary of the regional 
oceanography that can be used to frame a particular study, or a 
representative index of ocean variability that can be correlated 
with other measures of ecological change. In this sense, a simple 
representative timeseries or a few summarizing highlights are 
often sufficient. Hence, we expect the standard IROC user to 
focus on a specific region, while keeping in mind the general 
broader ocean context. A major strength of the IROC lies in 
the detailed regional analyses contributed by local experts from 
data products specifically tailored to the regional oceanography. 
Future developments of the IROC should not overlook this 
strength. Direct contact with potential users indicates that 
further developments may include a regional interpretation 
4 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/marine/eu-coast-and-marine-policy/marine- 
strategy-framework- directive 
of available operational products and assessment of ocean 
state forecasts. 
Along with improvements to the IROC, it is critical to 
develop a strategy for promoting its use, aimed at demonstrating 
the relevance of the report in future observing programs 
and its value for end-users. The current approach uses the 
ICES outreach strategy coordinated by a communications and 
publications department. IROC report highlights are published 
on the ICES news web page 5 before publication of the full 
report, and extensive social network activity is triggered along 
the process. A major target in the WGOH is having the 
report ready in summer to facilitate its use at the ICES 
Annual Science Conference. In parallel to ICES efforts, WGOH 
members use their own science networks and conference 
attendances to promote the IROC. Future success of the IROC 
will be tracked through its bibliometric performance, with the 
recent introduction of digital identifiers (doi) in Cooperative 
Research Reports. 
ICES’ goal of providing unbiased science-based advice to 
competent authorities requires full involvement of all EGs 
in the science-to policy pathway. The transfer of scientific 
advances into practical management tools builds upon the 
underlying idea that permanent two-way communication and 
strong coordination are pivotal. Current ICES structure relies on 
two main pillars, the Science and the Advisory Committees, who 
jointly struggle to facilitate such coordination 6 . WGOH-IROC 
forms a critical bridge between data collected by independent 
scientists/institutions/countries for research and environmental 
monitoring, and actual policy advice. 
3.2. IROC Timeseries and GOOS 
As seen in section 2, the WGOH analyses reported in the 
IROC are mostly based on the existence of long-term high- 
quality repeat hydrographic timeseries, primarily derived from 
in-situ sampling. These timeseries are considered representative 
at regional scale, providing notable coverage of the shelf seas 
and ocean boundaries. Traditional in-situ sampling was the 
only option for most of the twentieth century but the last two 
decades have yielded outstanding advances in routine automated 
sampling of the ocean in terms of oceanographic fixed buoys 
(WMO-IOC, 2018), the Argo array (Riser et al., 2016) and more 
recently regular glider missions (Rudnick, 2016). 
The introduction of new technology will allow for the 
continuation of several long-established timeseries in the North 
Atlantic. A relevant case is the Ellett Line (Holliday and 
Cunningham, 2013), that started in 1975 and has been covered 
by an annual cruise until now. Beginning in 2018 this regular 
cruise will be superseded by a new observation system (OSNAP 7 ) 
utilizing moored arrays, glider missions and biannual shipboard 
sampling. The representative regional IROC timeseries will be 
continued using these data supplemented by observations from 
the Argo array. In another example, high-frequency subsurface 
5 www.ices.dk/news-and-events/news-archive/news/Pages/Ocean-climate- 
highlights.aspx 
6 www.ices.dk/community/groups/Pages/wkscience2advice.aspx—Workshop on 
translating science into advice. 2018. 
7 The Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program www.o-snap.org