Council 29 (2022) established the Working Group on Enhancing User Involvement in decision making (UIWG) within the remit of the Management Committees. The purpose is to enhance the inclusion of user knowledge in management and decision-making processes. The Working Group aims to address what seems to be an imbalance between how scientific information and information derived from various stakeholders are used in assessment and management approaches for marine mammals in the NAMMCO context.

They will expand the current group with additional members, consisting of relevant stakeholders, such as hunters, managers, scientists, local inhabitants, representatives from fisheries and tourism industries as well as representatives with expertise on how to incorporate user knowledge in research and management processes.

Read the Terms of References here. The UIWG started its work in June 2023, and all meeting reports can be found here. In the Annual Meeting 32 (2025), the Joint Management Committee agreed that the UIWG would pause its activities to allow for further development of the group’s purpose and intended objectives.

Working Group members:

Ulla Svarrer Wang, manager, Ministry of Fisheries (FO)
Mikael Pettersen, hunter representative, The Association of Fishers and Hunters in Greenland (KNAPK)
Sandra Granquist, scientist, Marine and Freshwater Research Institute (IS)
John-André Henden, scientist, Marine Research Institute (NO)
Bjarne Pettersen, whaler (NO)
Simen Five, sealer (NO)
NAMMCO Secretariat

At the next meeting, the Working Group will select the Chair and the Vice-Chair.