Working Group on Acoustic Trawl Data Portal Governance (WGAcousticGov; outcomes from 2022 meeting)

The Working Group on Acoustic Trawl Data Portal Governance (WGAcousticGov) was formed in 2020. The remit of the group was to establish and maintain a governance framework for the development and management of the ICES trawl acoustic database. The first step was to establish a mission statement and then build in the structures and guidelines required to achieve these goals, this was achieved in year one (ToR a). A key component of this structure was to establish means by which to log, track and address user issues and requests (ToR b). This was established in year one (GitHub). The group has made a number of improvements to the data portal, driven largely by the user group. Issues raised are addressed and discussed during the quarterly meeting cycle and through intersessional work (ToR c). Much of the groups’ work during the first three-year cycle has focused on addressing user requests and making improvements to the data portal. Addressing user requests will constitute the main body of work of the group into the future. Communication with survey planning and expert groups through updates during the annual meeting cycle has provided a means to inform existing users and to attract new users (ToR, d). The ICES Trawl Acoustic database is one of the data repositories for the Horizon2020 MEESO project (Ecologically and economically sustainable mesopelagic fisheries). A dedicated training workshop on how to use the database was provided as one of the work package (Work package 1: Data management) deliverables in 2021. A further ICES hosted training course will be carried out in 2023 in collaboration with StoX software developers (ToR, d) aimed at the wider community and intended for new and existing users. Overall, progress on ToRs was positive during the current cycle and new ToRs have been proposed to build on progress made to date.