Developments and announcements

• The first General Assembly of the Ecopath International Research and Development Consortium will be held the 7th of May 2012 in Edinburgh, before the 6th World Fisheries Congress.
• The Consortium has established a software support system for users in February 2012.
• The Consortium will post a license for the EwE software in this website by March 2012.

About the Consortium

• The Ecopath International Research and Development Consortium was established in Vancouver, Canada, in October, 2011.
• The Consortium is a global, cooperative network focused on the research, development and sustainability of the Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) approach and software, its information basis, and complementary activities and capabilities.
• The Consortium is a non-commercial activity that is operated on a not for profit basis.
• The objective of the Consortium is to contribute to the sustainability of living resources and ecosystems by developing, applying, teaching, and promoting modelling and analytical tools, with a focus on the EwE modelling approach. The work is done as a cooperative effort between research, technical, and educational entities from around the world.
• The Consortium has as its aim to advance the development of EwE, to provide value to the users of the software, and to contribute to research and development of ecosystem-based management with a focus on EwE’s contribution to this.
• The Consortium is organized in an Executive Board, Regional Offices, a Technical Committee, a General Assembly, and a series of Working Groups.
• The Consortium is governed by an Executive Board and composed of registered Members.

Activities supported by the Consortium include:

• Maintain, further develop, and disseminate the EwE software and associated structures
• Develop and promote curricula for related training courses
• Develop and evaluate professional standards and best practices for EwE modeling
• Support research and development activities through working groups and projects

Contributing to the consortium:

• Support to the Consortium can be provided by members through (i) assigning personnel to develop new or expand on existing modules for the EwE approach and software and/or to support the Regional Offices, (ii) subscribing to software support or fund specific development, (iii) developing training courses with focus on modelling, application and programming of the EwE approach, (iv) organizing, participating in, and promoting EwE conferences.
• Funding is also expected to become available through the development and implementation of a business model and a marketing plan for maintaining and promoting Consortium activities.

Joining the Consortium:

• Membership to the Consortium is open to any institute, individual or enterprise interested in supporting the Consortium activities and mandate as stated above, and requires signing a Memorandum of Understanding. Please contact the consortium if you want to receive further information about the Consortium or you want to become a member.

Members of the Consortium

Current institutional member of the Ecopath International Research and Development Consortium are:

• Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory (UK)
• Ecology Department, The Scottish Association for Marine Science (UK)
• Estonian Marine Institute, University of Tartu (Estonia)
• Institute of Marine Sciences - Middle East Technical University (Turkey)
• Institute of Marine Sciences - Quebec University Rimouski (Canada)
• Institute of Marine Science - Spanish National Research Council (Spain)
• Pôle Halieutique, Institut Supérieur des Sciences Agronomiques, Agroalimentaires, Horticoles et du Paysage, Agrocampus Ouest-Renne (France)
• University of British Columbia - Fisheries Centre (Canada)
• University of Capetown, Capetown (South Africa)

Please contact the consortium if you want to receive further information about the Consortium or you want to become a member.

Institutes represented at the meeting in October 17-19th 2011

The Ecopath International Research and Development Consortium was established in Vancouver, Canada, in an international meetings held at the University of British Columbia the 17th to 19th October, 2011. Participant institutions to the meeting were:

• British Columbia Ministry of Environment (Canada)
• Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory (UK)
• Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas Instituto Politécnico Nacional (Mexico)
• Chaire UNESCO en Analyse Intégrée des systèmes marins, Institut des sciences de la mer de Rimouski (Canada)
• Conservation Science Institute (Canada)
• CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (Australia)
• Department of Fisheries and Oceans (Canada)
• Ecology Department, The Scottish Association for Marine Science (UK)
• Ecosystem & Oceanographyq Division. Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (USA)
• ESSA Technologies (Canada)
• Estonian Marine Institute, University of Tartu (Estonia)
• European Commission Join Research Center (Italy)
• FishBase Information and Research Group, Los Baños (Philippines)
• Fisheries and Ecosystems Ecology Laboratory, College of Marine Science, University of Saint Petersburg (USA)
• Institute of Marine Science - Spanish National Research Council (Spain)
• Institute of Marine Sciences Middle East Technical University (Turkey)
• Instituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale (Italy)
• Louisiana State University (USA)
• Mountain Soft (Canada)
• NOAA/NMFS/HC/Chesapeake Bay Office, National Marine Fisheries Service (USA)
• Pôle Halieutique, Institut Supérieur des Sciences Agronomiques, Agroalimentaires, Horticoles et du Paysage, Agrocampus Ouest-Renne (France)
• Spanish National Research Council (Spain)
• Stockholm Resilience Center and Baltic NEST Institute, Stockholm University (Sweden)
• UBC Fisheries Centre, (Canada)
• University of Capetown, Capetown (South Africa)
• University of South Florida (USA)