The first volume, entitled Ringed Seals in the North Atlantic , was published in 1998. In late winter, harp and hooded seals migrate to geographically well defined pack ice areas to whelp, breed and moult. During the rest of the year they disperse widely in the North Atlantic between Canada, Greenland and North Europe in search of their prey of various fish and invertebrate species. The migration pattern of minke whales is poorly understood, although they are believed to migrate between high latitude summer feeding areas and breeding areas at lower latitudes in winter. These three species are among the most abundant marine mammals, in terms of numbers and biomass, in the North Atlantic and Arctic, and hence can be expected to play an important role as predators in this ecosystem.
Humans are also top predators in the North Atlantic ecosystem.
They exploit the populations of fish and crustaceans of the North Atlantic extensively, and also exploit the harp seal, hooded seal and minke whale populations. The commercial exploitation of these three marine mammals was previously much more intense, which led to criticism and demands for tighter regulation. It is evident that the stocks of these species are at or near historically high levels, and that some of them may still be expanding quite rapidly. In response, the Scientific Committee formed a Working Group on the Role of Minke Whales, Harp Seals and Hooded Seals in North Atlantic Ecosystems, which met in Troms , Norway in March 1997. The Working Group included members of the Scientific Committee and invited experts from Canada, Denmark, Iceland and Norway.