Climate change and increasing development of coastal areas and their watersheds are two of the most serious threats to marine ecosystems in the North Pacific. It is probable that interactions between these stressors will be complex and consequences unknown and difficult to predict. Knowledge of the sensitivity and adaptability of natural and managed ecosystems to climate change is limited and confounded by the interaction of climate change with additional stressors such as fishing, habitat loss, and pollution. While inter-annual and decadal variability are dominant sources of climate variability in the North Pacific, global warming is expected to contribute significantly to future climate change. To improve our understanding of marine ecosystems of the North Pacific, it is imperative we identify the contribution of climate change to overall ecosystem change, and to strengthen our ability to forecast how marine and coastal ecosystems will adjust or respond to ongoing stresses from climate change and other human activities.

This symposium will focus on a series of major issues that are affecting North Pacific marine ecosystems including, but not limited to: changes in cycling of carbon and other elements, increasing acidification, decreasing oxygen concentrations, eutrophication, chemical and biological pollution, changing patterns of oceanic circulation, changes in the productivity and distribution of species (including shifts in migratory routes), shifts in species interactions, increased sea-level rise, and coastal erosion. Ideally, the contribution of climate change to ecosystem characteristics can be quantified and the information made available to the 5^th assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scheduled for 2013-2014.

Iron plays a key role in regulating the biogeochemical cycles of carbon and nitrogen, and pelagic ecosystem structures in the North Pacific Ocean, yet our understanding of these effects remains limited. External sources of iron, such as Asian dust, rivers, sediments, and volcanoes, supply large amounts of iron to the North Pacific, while the physical processes of upwelling, meso-scale eddies, boundary currents, and tidal mixing transport deep waters with high iron concentration to the upper ocean. Biological uptake, zooplankton grazing, re-mineralization, and iron chemistry change the forms of iron and its distribution in the North Pacific Ocean. This session invites papers that address physical, biological and chemical processes controlling iron distribution and transformation, linkages between iron and ecosystem responses, and impacts on carbon and nitrogen cycles. Of special interest are papers that combine recent progress from field observations and modeling studies that relate iron cycling to ecosystem structures and carbon fluxes in the North Pacific Ocean.

The importance of Strickland and Parsons' A Practical Handbook of Seawater Analysis to the development of oceanographic science is difficult to overstate. The first version of the book, A Manual of Sea Water Analysis, was published by the Fisheries Research Board of Canada in 1960. Half a century on, we are in a position to examine the role that this manual and its descendants have played in the development of biological and chemical oceanography. This session invites papers on the role that the development and standardization of analytical methods has played in the evolution of oceanography, and the evolution of our understanding of planktonic ecosystems that methodological innovation has catalyzed.

The Census of Marine Life (CoML) is a global scientific initiative to assess and explain the changing diversity, distribution, and abundance of marine species in the past and present, and to build the capacity to project future diversity. CoML is the initiative of unprecedented size and scope, engaging more than 2000 scientists and ocean professionals from over 80 countries with a common mission towards improving the understanding of life in the ocean. This session will summarize the past 10 years of results from the global CoML program, highlighting specific products and how CoML information and data can be used or applied. It will open with an overview of the entire program and its accomplishments, and then delve deeper into various program components with featured speakers representing Census activities in the Arctic, deep sea, tagging and tracking, HMAP, FMAP, NaGISA, corals, DNA barcoding, microbes, and other exciting projects. Contributors will discuss findings and discoveries with particular attention to the information released at the CoML "Decade of Discovery" events in London just weeks earlier. Discussion will also center on additional ways to apply the newly released CoML information to answer the growing global questions of ocean acidification and climate change, and the role of marine biodiversity information with managing through ecosystems approaches and marine spatial planning. The session will conclude with a consideration of lessons learned from CoML, exploring some of the most successful (and some not-so successful) aspects of the program in the context of developing any future coordinated marine biodiversity efforts.

Recent research has demonstrated several complexities in the reproductive processes of marine fish. First, for some cod and rockfish stocks there is evidence of a maternal effect upon larval quality such that larval viability increases with spawner age. Second, some iteroparous stocks show evidence of skipped spawning (i.e., not all mature fish spawn in each year) that is related to environmental conditions and the life-history of the stock. Third, temporal changes in age at reproduction have occurred for some exploited stocks, and researchers are attempting to attribute this pattern to some combination of (1) demographic changes in age and size structure; (2) plastic responses to a changing environment; or (3) evolutionary responses to selective pressures. These complexities indicate that the production of reproductive output of marine stocks may be more complex than typically assumed in population models, and researchers are beginning to more fully incorporate reproductive biology in assessment procedures. The purpose of this session is to review field, laboratory, and modeling studies that may reveal how oceanographic variability, life-history pattern, and fishing pressure may affect the reproductive biology for North Pacific fish stocks, and consider how reproductive biology can best be incorporated into fishery assessment and management.

As the ocean environment changes, we expect species to respond by changing their distribution. Species could expand into habitats newly made available to them and avoid or shrink their abundance in habitats that are no longer viable. Because species respond to these environmental changes at different rates, previously isolated species now interact. We coin the term "ecosystem mixing" to describe the pulling apart and re-mixing of ecosystems and species interactions in a changing environment. For example, Humboldt squid, expanded their range northward along the west coast of North America in 2009, encountering new prey species, potentially including important stocks of juvenile salmon. In this session, we consider the consequences of ecosystem mixing. Papers are invited that describe case studies of ecosystem mixing from a physical, biological and/or socio-economic perspective, especially as they impact the predators and/or prey of key species (such as those important for fishery harvests). Selected oral and poster presentations will be considered for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Past activities of PICES have mainly focused on physical and biological sciences, such as ecology, ecosystems, fisheries, oceanography, and biogeochemistry, etc. While humans are essential parts of marine ecosystems, it is important to consider impacts from human activities/uses upon marine living resources and economic and social science research within the PICES region. Indeed, the new FUTURE science program endeavors to provide a greater role for social and economic scientists in PICES. This session is convened in direct response to this objective and is intended to be a step toward enhancing research and management of marine living resources from a socio-economic perspective.

Considering the growing role of marine aquaculture in both seafood production and consumption as well as the close relationship between marine aquaculture and wild ocean capture fisheries, this session will focus on the relationships of marine aquaculture to capture fisheries with respect to economics, such as (1) marine aquaculture products as a substitute and/or complement for wild caught products owing to consumer preference, price, and availability; (2) the synergies between aquaculture and fishing (use of fish processing trimmings, resilient coastal communities and maintaining working waterfronts), and (3) economic considerations regarding potential environmental effects (positive and negative) interactions between captured fisheries and marine aquaculture (e.g., feed inputs in marine aquaculture derived from captured fisheries, aquaculture stock enhancement, aquaculture structures as fish aggregating devices, etc.). Selected oral and poster presentations will be considered for publication in a specials issue of a peer-reviewed journal such as Aquaculture Economics and Management, Aquaculture, Reviews in Aquaculture, or Fishery Research.

Understanding the role of natural variability, occurring over a variety of temporal and spatial scales is essential for effective management of marine ecosystems in the wake of predicted global change. Evidence suggests that climate variability can trigger regime shifts in marine ecosystems. Regime shifts are characterized by a re-organization of marine communities, species dominance, and tropho-dynamic relationships. Often, synchronous shifts occur in aquatic ecosystems that are separated by thousands of kilometers. This finding suggests that atmospheric teleconnections are mediating regional system changes. We postulate that comparative studies of ecosystems that have experienced regime shifts will provide insights into the expected responses of marine organisms to climate change. Papers are invited that go beyond simple pattern matching. The primary focus will be on understanding shifts in the pelagic realm, including phytoplankton, zooplankton, small pelagic fishes, gadids, and squids. Preference will be given to research that provides evidence of the functional responses and relationships that underlie regime shifts, and to statistical or modeling studies that successfully simulate observed shifts.

Each PICES member country has conceptual models of harmful algal bloom (HAB) dynamics that link the physics, chemistry and biological aspects of bloom development and decay. The biology gives us information on ecosystem structure but also describes elements contributing to success of a particular species. The chemistry focuses on nutrient dynamics, ratios and preferences among species. Physical processes detail cell and nutrient delivery to the coast. While conceptual models are descriptions of HAB dynamics without numbers, numerical models include rate estimates. In theory, each of these would be supported with the same physical, chemical and ecological foundation, overlain with the unique considerations of different water types and second order ecosystem structure. However, these models vary widely between species and among countries. There have been no comprehensive inter-comparisons among these conceptual and numerical models to identify their similarities and differences. The focus of this session will be to seek commonalities among models and identify the unique second order aspects needed to describe the distribution and dynamics of HAB in different PICES regions. We encourage modelers and non-modelers alike to submit their papers.

The use of genomics, proteomics and metabolomics, either alone or in combination with each other and/or with more traditional methods, is rapidly transforming many areas of biological and biomedical research. Genomics is the study of all genes within an organism, and can be applied at the sequence (DNA) level, or the transcribed (RNA) level. Proteomics and metabolomics are studies of all proteins or metabolites, respectively, within an organism, organ, cell, or system, at any given time, under selected conditions. These technologies have enabled the transition from sequential studies of single genes, proteins or metabolites by enabling the simultaneous study of many components and their interactions with the environment (from pathways, through cell tissues to whole organisms and communities). These technologies are now being used to address fundamental questions in areas such as ecology, biodiversity and evolution primarily in the terrestrial setting. With the exception of genomic and proteomic studies designed to address questions about the diversity and ecology of marine microbial and phytoplankton and fish communities to date, these technologies have not been broadly applied in marine ecosystems or fisheries research. The goal of this session will be to provide an introduction to these technologies, including information on how they have been applied, or could be applied to address questions of importance to marine and fisheries scientists and policy makers. Contributors will be invited to explore topics such as: (1) the scientific value of these technologies to ecological and fisheries research; (2) factors that have limited their application; (3) the importance of these technologies to our understanding of complex issues such as monitoring, managing and setting policy for marine biodiversity; and (4) what is needed for marine and fisheries scientists to take advantage of these technologies? This session will stimulate discussion within the PICES and broader research community, encourage interactions between marine and fisheries scientists with research groups that routinely use these technologies in their fields of research; and start the process of development of multidisciplinary research teams that is so crucial to obtain funding for large-scale marine-base research programs that utilize and, more importantly, integrate these fields.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have been encouraging the sustainable use of marine living resources by the identification of vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) and ecologically and biological significant areas (EBSAs), in particular but not exclusively in international waters, and have developed criteria. The broad purpose for identifying such areas is to prevent significant adverse impacts and to protect the marine biodiversity and services that these ecosystems provide.

To achieve these objectives, researchers and managers must be able to identify areas where VMEs are known, or are likely, to occur. Outstanding questions related to VME identification include: (1) what characteristics should be used to classify these systems, (2) how can current information on VMEs and EBSAs be consolidated, and (3) how can models which predict the locations of such areas be developed and tested. PICES member countries are beginning to identify VMEs that meet a variety of biological and socio-economic objectives. However, no comprehensive comparison of the different methods or assessment of their performance against established ecological, social and economic objectives exists to provide guidance on the appropriate tools to be used. This session will bring together researchers and managers engaged in ecosystem-based management to address two objectives: (1) to compare current approaches and datasets used to identify VMEs/EBSA by different member countries in order to develop a list of appropriate tools and (2) to explore how the criteria for these areas (such as defined in the FAO Guidelines FIEP/R881 and CBD Resolution UNEP/CBD/COP/DEC/IX/20) can be used to identify VME/EBSA-type areas in the high-seas of the North Pacific Ocean. Both benthic/demersal and pelagic systems will be considered, as they may have different characteristics. Presentations and methods developed for shelf and coastal waters are welcome to the extent that they provide guidance and case studies for open ocean situations. This review of international experiences with applying approaches and data to identify VMEs and EBSAs will contribute to the international discussion and evaluation of these issues, and to the application of measures to protect these significant regions.

The North Pacific marine environment has provided a diverse and valuable series of ecosystem services to coastal communities for many thousands of years. Ocean and land-based anthropogenic activities are now widely recognized to have a strong influence on ecological processes throughout the North Pacific marine ecosystem. Anthropogenic influences such as commercial fishing, aquaculture, pollution, and urbanization are particularly strong in coastal waters where they impose a wide variety of multiple stressors that can impact fundamental ecosystem functions, critical processes, and marine biodiversity. Changes in the physical and biological environment perturb native communities, often resulting in disruption of species interactions and trophic relationships that can negatively impact productivity and diminish ecosystem resilience. In addition, large scale processes such as regime shifts, ocean oscillations, and climate variability can alter near-shore processes. For example, introduced species can negatively impact native communities, and commercial shipping and recreational activities can be a powerful vector for changes in the geographic distribution of marine and estuarine species. Similarly, changing ocean conditions have facilitated the continued pole-ward range expansion of a number of marine organisms, often with unknown impacts on the ecosystems they are moving into. Recent range expansion (e.g., Humboldt squid) and population eruptions (e.g., jellyfish) on both sides of the Pacific have had negative consequences for native flora and fauna.

Application of an ecosystem-based approach to coastal management would provide a template to better understand multiple stressors in coastal systems. Continuing to study and manage these stressors independently as single problems must be replaced by examining multiple stressors within the context of the ecosystems they are altering. Further, global climate change is expected to have clear consequences with respect to future species introductions, establishment, and range expansion. Ignoring complex interactions will only hinder management efforts. Thus, integrating non-indigenous species invasions with existing anthropogenic stressors will facilitate a holistic approach to addressing the challenges facing our coastal marine ecosystems.

This session will explore the characterization, understanding, and forecasting of the influence of multiple anthropogenic stressors in North Pacific coastal ecosystems. For example, how do non-indigenous species interact with other anthropogenic stressors? Contributed papers will provide a higher-level overview of stressors in various North Pacific ecosystems (e.g., overharvesting, urbanization, habitat alteration and loss, mariculture, HABs, pollution, non-indigenous species, etc.) and the types of impacts that have been observed, especially those linked to changes in biodiversity and productivity (e.g., extinctions, species interactions, trophic cascades).

In the North Pacific, there are two major gyres; the western subarctic gyre and the Alaskan gyre. Although severe winter conditions have limited observational activity, recent progress in observational networks, including satellites, drifters and Argo floats, have improved our understandings of the two gyres. Both gyres are mainly driven by the subarctic wind field and are expected to be synchronized with each other. However, the real responses are not so simple. For example, the western subarctic gyre shows large seasonal variability in the western boundary current (Oyashio), while the Alaskan stream does not show large seasonal variability. In addition to these physical characteristics, chemical and biological characteristics are different. For example, iron supply is larger in the western subarctic gyre since the distance from the terrestrial sources is closer than in the Alaskan gyre. This, in turn, affects seasonal cycling and magnitudes of phytoplankton and zooplankton production. Therefore ecosystems are also different in the two gyres. To achieve better understanding of the mechanisms of the subarctic response to atmospheric forcing, comparisons of the responses of the two gyres are essential. This session will focus on the comparison of the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the two gyres, on all time scales. Presentations on predictability of the two gyres, or which address additional improvements of the subarctic observation network are also welcome.

Renewable energy projects are increasing worldwide, and many types involve the marine environment. Those under active development are typically designed to directly extract energy from waves, tides, currents, wind, or thermal gradients or indirectly from biomass energy. These novel technologies will require new emplacements, moorings, or other structures in marine and estuarine environments with attendant intrusions upon the environment, including acoustic signals, changes to mixing, and electromagnetic fields. Marine renewable energy sources are able to provide clean energy, but their effects on the physical and biological environment are not well understood. This session will examine the technologies under development in PICES nations and address the current state of our knowledge on how they will interact with estuarine, coastal, and offshore environments.

This session seeks contributions that deal with any topics pertinent to marine renewable energy development, including: (1) status of marine renewable energy in PICES countries; (2) economic costs and benefits of different approaches; (3) marine spatial planning for renewable energy; (4) physical effects of marine renewable energy development (current flow, energy reduction, mixing, sediment transport); and (5) ecological effects (larval transport, entrainment, entanglement, behavior, habitat changes, communities) on all trophic levels.

The session will advance the objectives of the PICES Technical Committee on Monitoring, the PICES FUTURE program (Forecasting and Understanding Trends, Uncertainty and Responses of North Pacific Marine Ecosystems) and the ICES-GOOS Steering Group. These groups have terms of reference related to the coordination of Global Ocean Observing Systems, the development and evaluation of forecasting systems, and their application to ocean management. The session will focus on examples where ocean observations and forecasts have been used in PICES and ICES products.

Methodological advances and issues will also be presented to promote the development of observing and forecasting capabilities. Finally, this session will serve as a forum to bring the ocean observing, ecological forecasting and resource management communities together to better link observing and forecasting efforts with the need to provide scientific advice for marine and coastal resource management.

This session invites oral and poster presentations on all aspects of Biological Oceanography in the North Pacific and its marginal seas that are not covered in specific BIO Topic Sessions (S2, S3, S4, S6, S8 and S13). Papers on marine birds and mammals are especially encouraged this year.

Papers addressing general topics in fishery science and fisheries oceanography in the North Pacific and its marginal seas are invited, except those covered by Topic Sessions S5, S6, S7, S8, S10 and S11.

Papers are invited on all aspects of physical oceanography and climate in the North Pacific and its marginal seas, except those covered by Topic Sessions S8, S13 and S14.

Integrated Ocean Observing Systems have recently received significant attention for monitoring and reporting the status of coastal, continental shelf and even deep ocean ecosystems. Ocean Observing Systems enhance our ability to collect, deliver, and use ocean information, and they deliver the data and information needed to increase understanding of our oceans and coasts, so decision makers can take actions to improve safety, enhance the economy, and protect the environment. Ocean Observing System information is also used to initialize numerical ecosystem models. Contributors to this session will demonstrate the application of ocean observing systems that support the FUTURE goals of improved understanding, status reports, outlooks and forecasts through the use of electronic display systems, including interactive web sites and animations.

The objective of the Marine Ecosystem Model Inter-comparison Project (MEMIP) is to compare the performance of various lower trophic level marine ecosystem simulation models at predicting the abundance and distribution of coastal zooplankton functional groups. Models with high performance will be used to examine the future state of the marine ecosystem to global climate change. This workshop builds upon the discussions and planning accomplished at the successful workshop held at PICES-2009. The workshop will be technical, hands-on, and focus on parameterizing, executing and calibrating three test bed versions of a biogeochemical lower trophic level (LTL) marine ecosystem models. At each test bed 3 to 6 ecosystem models will be run. Specific ecosystem models (i.e., NPZD, NEMURO and CoSINE) will be executed. Some models will be tuned to run in a specific region and others will be applied to areas different from where they were calibrated. Model skill assessment will be evaluated. The models will be used to identify important mechanisms that control secondary production, zooplankton biomass and variability, as well as bounding the levels of uncertainty in model predictions by calculating ensemble statistics. Comparisons at multiple locations will provide information on the spatial-temporal robustness of particular model structures and parameterizations. The products of the comparison will contribute to FUTURE by estimating the uncertainty and the limits of forecasting.

The advent of high resolution coupled atmosphere–ocean circulation models and the creation of repositories of high resolution 4-D ocean hindcasts and future scenarios has made it possible to contemplate adding virtual fish to an increasingly virtual ocean. The ability to study virtual fish in a virtual ocean has a potential to understand past phenomena and potentially, to predict future behavior. Recent developments in satellite data availability, in data assimilating physical models, and in tagging technologies for fishes, all increase the chance to improve our understanding of fish migration mechanism. However, fish behavior is complex. It is a consequence of genes, the physical, chemical and biological environment and their interaction, and perhaps even from learned behavior. This makes the modeling of fish behaviors potentially very complex, and this complexity suggests that a team approach to model building might be desirable. The purpose of this workshop is to understand the current state of development in modeling fish behaviour. Presentations are anticipated that discuss successes (and failures) in modeling migratory fish behavior. Presentations related to data availability to evaluate fish behavior models and laboratory experimental approaches to investigate fish behavior are also welcomed. Based on the results and opinions expressed at the workshop, the convenors would like to discuss the desirability of establishing a group that will focus its attention on developing and advancing the state of fish behavioral modeling.

Here we begin a series of workshops focusing on new technologies in harmful algal bloom (HAB) research and monitoring. The first workshop in this series will include lectures and integrated demonstrations of new methods in organism detection with concentrated information on HAB species. This workshop will describe equipment and methods from the following list: environmental sampling platform (ESP), FloCam, sandwich hybridization assay (SHA), qPCR, FISH, and in situ sensors including gliders. This series will continue in the future with demonstrations on automated nutrient samplers, modeling, remote sensing, and other techniques.

Presentations and discussions will be carried out on: (1) progress related to the WG20 Terms of Reference, (2) status of, and future work on, the final report, and (3) follow-up activities that conform to FUTURE objectives and needs.

This workshop will continue the implementation of the North Pacific carbon data synthesis. Investigators who submit data to the workshop will collectively review the progress of the QA/QC process, and discuss the degree of success of the techniques applied and whether different or additional approaches are necessary. This is a highly “hands-on” activity that will involve data originators who submit data to the synthesis, and investigators participating in the synthesis process, and will lead directly to value-added data products and collective publications.