the scottish association for marine science ninety second annual

							THE SCOTTISH ASSOCIATION FOR MARINE SCIENCE

Ninety-Second Annual General Meeting
at Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory 6th November 2006 1615 hours MINUTES Present Sir John Arbuthnott (SAMS President) Ken Ken Abernethy (AIE Observer) Mr Bill Balfour Mr David Bloomer (NERC Observer) Professor Ian Boyd Dr Ian Graham-Bryce Dr Ken Jones Mr John Mill Dr Phil Newton (NERC Observer) Dr John Rogers (Observer) Dr Roger Scrutton Professor Graham Shimmield Commodore Charles Stevenson Lord Euan Strathcona Mr Roger Thwaites Mr Ian Townend Mrs Elaine Walton Mrs Helen Anderson Professor John Blaxter David Kilpatrick Dr Hamish Mair N R Parish Harry Powell Colin Thwaites Miss Jane McLoughlin (Minutes) Professor B Cormack, Mr P Dryburgh, Professor A Ferguson, Dr K Duff, Sir F Holliday, Dr Jeff Howarth, Dr Gus MacKenzie, Professor A McIntyre, Professor N Owens, Dr J Steele, Professor Paul Thompson, Professor S Thorpe, Mrs Trish Whyte Dr J Leftley, Dr John MacLeod, Mr Donald McLusky, Rear Admiral Steve Ritchie, Mr Ian Tegner

Apologies:

The Chairman welcomed Members to the Ninety-Second Annual General Meeting. 1. Minutes of the 91st Annual General Meeting The Minutes of the 91st Annual General Meeting held on 7 November 2005, which had been sent to all Members, were approved and signed by the Chairman. 2. Report of Council for the year ended 31 March 2006 The President confirmed it had been a busy year for SAMS. The year was about consolidating and planning for the future and many developments in 2006 will take their expression in the future. On major academic development was that SAMS received a significant award of £5.6 million as part of the £11.4 million award to address research capacity for the UHI Millennium Institute (ARC). The Scottish Funding Council, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the European Regional Development Fund are all contributing allowing SAMS to recruit 24 new staff and assist with refurbishment at SAMS to accommodate the new staff.

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The President went on to outline a number of strategic developments namely that SAMS is working with Scottish universities and research institutes through a process known as “pooling” on an innovative programme of research co-ordination and cooperation which is being proposed to the SFC. SAMS is also a partner in the approved pool for environmental geosciences, known as the Scottish Alliance for Geoscience (SAGES) coordinated by the University of Edinburgh. SAMS has done a great deal of work in preparing a new core strategic programme submission to NERC to follow the current Northern Seas Programme that ends in 2007. SAMS will work with all seven marine centres to deliver a coordinated programme of activity under the banner “Oceans 2025” And finally, SAMS is playing a full role in assisting the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department (SEERAD) in assessing how the Marine Bill may be implemented across Scotland. Amongst this SAMS continues to offer impartial and detailed strategic advice to the discussions that are underway in the public and government about Marine National Parks. The President thanked Council, the Director and all the staff for their support. 3. Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2005 The Chairman of the Finance and General Purposes Committee recommended to the Association the Annual Report and the audited accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006. There has been a period of consolidation following on from the rapid expansion over recent years which had taken place to ensure sustainability of the Association into the future. The efforts over the last year have moved the Association to a position to trading at a profit in the current year. The net income and resources taken into reserves is £165K which is a very credible improvement on the previous year. The accounts were approved and adopted unanimously. Developments at SAMS The Director reported that over 60% of the new ARC appointments mentioned above, are coming from outside the UK and this will allow major international scientific activity. The International Polar Year starts in 2007 and will run for 2 years and SAMS expects to play a full and key role in this area. SAMS is also involved in the Census of Marine Life in a variety of ways including hosting the European Office, which gives major exposure to one of the most international programmes looking at Marine Biodiversity on the planet. He described how many of the SAMS PhD students are going on to obtain very good postdoctoral positions and academic positions in other marine institutes and universities. This is another mark of the maturity of the organisation and the way it is going forward. There has been considerable work under the direction of SAMS Council to consolidate the period immediately following the major building plan and capital investment. This is to build a sustainable strategy for the future of the Association. The Director thanked HIE for their ongoing support of the Association. SAMS enjoys a strong membership and is active in a variety of ways with the Scottish Marine Group (SMG) and SAMS is delighted that Susan Chambers from the Scottish Museum has taken on the Chairmanship position for the SMG. An objective for SAMS over the coming year is to ensure that its role as a membership organisation and Learned Society with all the marine issues going across Scotland is consolidated. With the guidance of the SAMS President SAMS Council will look at

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reorganisation of the governance framework at SAMS and will be mindful of the views of the membership in doing that. The President confirmed the wish of Council to strengthen the management and governance of SAMS and that there may be an extra-ordinary General Meeting to look at the proposed changes. The Director gave a personal thanks to the SAMS President, SAMS Council and Board and staff for their support. 5. Election of Vice-Presidents The following had been nominated by Council and were unanimously elected to serve as VicePresidents for a period of one year. Professor Sir Frederick Holliday, Kt, CBE, BSc, DSc, FIBiol, FRSE Professor A.D. McIntyre, CBE, BSc, DSc, FIBiol, FRSE Sir David Smith, MA, Dphil, FRSE, FRS Dr J.H. Steele, BSc, DSc, FRSE, FRS Professor Sir William Stewart, Kt, BSc, PhD, DSc, FIBiol, FRSE, FRS Professor S.A. Thorpe, BSc, BA, PhD, FRS. Dr Ian Graham-Bryce, MA, BSc, Dphil, FRSE, FRSA, Cchem, FRSC 6. Election of Board The following had been nominated and were unanimously elected to serve as Board members for a period of one year. Professor R Cormack, (representing UHI) Lord E Strathcona (representing Fishmongers Co.) Election of Members of Council Mr Roger Thwaites wished to stand down from Council. Council members to be re-elected were Professor Janet Sprent, Professor Ian Boyd and Mr Ian Townend. There were 5 new members of Council.  Peter Dryburgh was proposed by Commodore Charles Stevenson and seconded by Mr Bill Balfour.  Keith Duff was proposed by Dr Roger Scrutton and seconded by Professor Janet Sprent.  Allister Ferguson was proposed by Professor Ian Boyd and seconded by Mr Ian Townend.  Nick Owens was proposed by Professor Janet Sprent and seconded by Commodore Charles Stevenson.  John Rogers was proposed by Mr Bill Balfour and seconded by Professor Ian Boyd. The President asked if any member had any objection to the proposed re-election of Council members and the new nominations. There being no objections the above were unanimously elected to serve on Council for a period of three years. 8. Election of Auditors It was proposed that Ernst and Young continue as auditors. The recommendation to continue to use their services for the next financial year 2006-07 was endorsed by the members. Any Other Business There being no other business the President the meeting closed at 1645 hrs. Sir John Arbuthnott SAMS President

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