The various working groups of the ASP had a constructive annual meeting in Vancouver from 5-6 December, 2015. The activities have been impressive since last year including a very high publication rate, lots of field work, teaching activities and guidance for politicians and local authorities.

ASP is now mobilising for the new focus areas in the years to come. One of the priorities of the partnership is the impact of oil spills in the Arctic.

Jørgen Berge of the University of Tromsø demonstrated that arctic ecosystems are also active through the totally dark winter months and that an oil spill in the Arctic therefore is disastrous all year round.

ARC has forwarded an ambitious application "oil2sea" that focuses on the effects of an oil spill in the Arctic/Greenland. What are the impacts on the ecosystem? Where does the oil go? How is the legislation? How do we prevent a disaster?

Concept drawing of the The Churchill Marine Observatory (CMO) facility

University of Manitoba is in the process of building a large experimental plot at Churchill: 'The Churchill Marine Observatory (CMO)'. Here, researchers will – under controlled conditions – investigate how oil, sea ice and the biology of the sea ice interact.

With this scientific effort, ASP wants to be ahead should accidents occur like the one the world saw in Alaska where the oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground and leaked about 42 million liters of crude oil.

After the two-day annual meeting, several ASP-members participated in the ArcticNet meeting in Vancouver and presented several news from the study and work developed in the ASP-partnership.