Working Group on the Ecosystem Effects of Fishing Activities (WGECO).

The 2019 meeting of WGECO was held at the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, Copenhagen, Denmark from 8–16 April 2019. The meeting was attended by 16 delegates from eight countries and was chaired by Stefán Ragnarsson (Iceland) and Jeremy Collie (USA). The work conducted centred on three Terms of Reference that had been made by WGECO. In addition, a list of sensitive species prepared by WGBYC was reviewed. WGECO continued the work initiated in 2018 to examine the ecological consequences of stock rebuilding, with emphasis on benthivorous fish (ToRa). Two case studies were carried out to estimate the predation pressure of fish on benthos. In one, the consumption of benthic inverte- brates by demersal fish on the US continental shelf regions was compared with their biomass in sediments. The estimated annual consumption of benthic organisms was a small proportion (