mCDR interactions with ecosystems, fisheries and aquaculture – an ICES Working Group and UN Ocean Decade GEOS Project
This group is focused on marine Carbon Dioxide Removal (mCDR) interactions with marine ecosystems, fisheries and aquaculture. It aims to integrate and advance shared knowledge and develop tools for examining potential interactions of mCDR activities with coastal communities, key sectors and marine ecosystems in general.
Our activities are centred around three pillars:
- Engagement and inclusive perspectives
- Addressing science knowledge gaps
- Developing outputs for use in advice or decision-making
The group elevates perspectives of existing marine sectors and works towards developing multidisciplinary tools to enable decision-making in this rapidly evolving space.
We welcome any interested parties to either get involved or just stay informed, including those from commercial and Indigenous fisheries and aquaculture communities and rightsholders; academia; NGOs; government; natural and social scientists; policymakers; and fisheries and aquaculture resource managers. Importantly, the group is agnostic towards mCDR outcomes – we are here to evaluate evidence and discuss findings to inform the wider discussion around mCDR. We are not an advocacy or lobby group.
Background
Along with extensive emissions reductions, scientists now recognize that negative emissions technologies, including carbon dioxide removal (CDR), are required to meet global climate targets. Increasingly, the ocean is being considered as an avenue for CDR applications. The marine CDR (mCDR) methods that are currently gaining most attention include ocean alkalinity enhancement, artificial up/downwelling, nutrient fertilization, seaweed cultivation and sinking, and direct ocean carbon capture and storage. The potential ecological impacts of these interventions, particularly for fisheries-related and cultured marine organisms, are a new focus for research and there are many unanswered questions, including impacts to species and existing marine industries that depend upon marine species for their livelihoods.
In 2024 a group of interested academics set up an International Council for Exploration of the Seas (ICES) workshop, inviting over from a diverse range of backgrounds to join online in a first discussion around this intersection topic. This workshop, held over four days in October 2024, resulted in a workshop report and a perspectives publication. A second, independently organised, follow up workshop was then held in April 2025, taking about 30 people from the initial workshop to London for an intense three days of discussion and paper writing, resulting in the preparation of 11 papers to submit to peer-review journals and the production of “A Fisherman’s Guide to mCDR” infographic, and a plan to continue the efforts as an ICES working group.
The ICES WGmCDRFISH
This interdisciplinary ICES Working Group was officially established in April 2026, with Terms of Reference (ToR) set for three years, aiming to continue the discussion and knowledge exchange from the past two years. The group currently has over 50 members representing a range of interested parties from 11 ICES countries. We will work towards our deliverables within ToR groups and convene as a Working Group via quarterly hybrid meetings. More information on the Working Group resolutions and activities can be found here.
UN Ocean Decade project
In 2026, this initiative was endorsed as a UN Ocean Decade project entitled ‘Ocean mitigation and impacts to ecosystems and people’ under the Global Ecosystem for Ocean Solutions (GEOS) UN Ocean Decade programme. The GEOS programme is a global network accelerating the development and scaling of equitable, science-based ocean-climate solutions. GEOS brings together leading scientists, innovators, policy actors, funders, and community organizations to collaboratively design, test, and advance strategies that address the interlocked crises of ocean degradation and climate change. We wanted to make sure that the work of the ICES WGmCDRFISH can be fed into the GEOS and wider UN Ocean Decade dialogue, as well as bring in interested parties from regions that fall outside the scope of ICES.
ICES Chairs
Helen Gurney-Smith — Research Scientist, DFO, Canada
Helen Findlay — Research Scientist, PML, UK
Peter Haugan — Policy Director, IMR, Norway
Sarah Schumann — Fisherman and Director of Fishery Friendly Climate Action Campaign, USA
ICES ToR Leads
ToR A1 — Helen Gurney-Smith, DFO, Canada; Libby Jewett, University of Vermont, USA
ToR A2 — Kalina Grabb*, Dalhousie University, Canada; Gabby Kitch*, Yale University, USA
ToR B — Peter Haugan, IMR, Norway; Helen Findlay, PML, UK
ToR C — Hannah MacDonald*, Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, USA; Emily Blacklock*, Fundy North Fisherman’s Association, Canada
* Denotes early career professionals.
UN Decade Project Leads
Helen Gurney-Smith — Research Scientist, DFO, Canada
Kalina Grabb — Postdoctoral Researcher, Dalhousie University, Canada
Helen Findlay — Research Scientist, PML, UK
Peter Haugan — Policy Director, IMR, Norway
Sarah Schumann — Fisherman and Director of Fishery Friendly Climate Action Campaign, USA
ICES WGmCDRFISH first annual meeting
The first annual meeting of ICES WGmCDRFISH will be held in person in Copenhagen in December 2026, with a hybrid option available.
mCDRxFisheries Literature Database
The mCDRxFisheries project has consolidated and annotated literature at the intersection of marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) and fisheries. The database brings together studies covering biological responses, ecosystem changes and fisheries impacts, providing an initial platform for expanding the knowledge base around mCDR and accelerating the synthesis of fisheries-relevant research.
The open-source database contains 870 publications and provides an interactive interface for users to download, search, filter and visualise content using mCDR- and fisheries-focused annotations.
Selected Publications
ICES. (2025). Workshop on marine Carbon Dioxide Removal (WKmCDR; outputs from 2024 Meeting). ICES Scientific Reports, 7(7), 16 pp. Read publication
Grabb KC, Clevenger S, Findlay HS, Gurney-Smith H, Jewett EB, Kitch G, McElhany P, Paul K. (2025). The importance of engagement with fisheries, aquaculture, and Indigenous communities in the planning and implementation of marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) initiatives. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 82(12), fsaf198. Read publication
Grabb KC, Kitch GD, Findlay HS, Gurney-Smith HJ et al. (2026). A sequential gated research framework for addressing potential impacts of marine carbon dioxide removal on fisheries, aquaculture, and Indigenous communities. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 83(6), fsag076. Read publication
McElhany P, Cape M, Faucher G et al. (2026). Biological thresholds for marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR): the effect of changes in carbonate chemistry. EGUsphere [preprint]. Read publication
