The Scientific Committee provides scientific advice in response to requests from the Council and at its own initiative if it has identified an issue of concern (see the overview document with the list of requests and answers in the library here).

The Committee meets annually and reports from meetings can be found here.

The Rules of Procedure that govern the Committee’s functions can be found here.

A large portion of the work of the Scientific Committee takes place within Working Groups, which you can read more about here.

It is comprised of members appointed by the member countries. Each country may appoint up to 6 members to the Scientific Committee. Members of the Secretariat are also ex officio, non-voting members of the Committee.

Scientific Committee Members

Faroe Islands:
Bjarni Mikkelsen, Marine Research Institute; Faroe Islands

Greenland:
Aqqalu Rosing-Asvid, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources
Fernando Ugarte, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources
Lars Witting, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources
Mads Peter Heide-Jørgensen, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources
Sascha Schiøtt, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources

Iceland
Bjarki Þór Elvarsson, Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, Iceland
Guðjón Már Sigurðsson, Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, Iceland
Sandra Granquist, Marine and Freshwater Research Institute &  Icelandic Seal Center, Iceland

Norway:
Christian Lydersen, Norwegian Polar Institute
John-André Henden, Institute of Marine Research, Norway
Kjell Tormod Nilssen, Institute of Marine Research, Norway
Martin Biuw, Institute of Marine Research, Norway
Ulf Lindstrøm, Institute of Marine Research, Norway

Current Chair and Vice-Chair:

Greenland currently holds the Chair of the Scientific Committee (since 2022 Council meeting) and Iceland holds the Vice-Chair.