ICES is a leading multidisciplinary scientific forum for the exchange of information and ideas on all aspects of marine sciences pertaining to the North Atlantic, including the adjacent Baltic Sea and North Sea, and for the promotion and coordination of marine research by scientists within its member nations. Its principal functions, both when it was established and continuing to the present time, are to: (i) promote, encourage, develop, and coordinate marine research; (ii) publish and otherwise disseminate results of research; and (iii) provide non-biased, non-political scientific advice to member nation governments and international regulatory commissions.