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| North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES) | |
|---|---|
| Name | North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES) |
| Abbreviation | PICES |
| Formation | 1992 |
| Type | Intergovernmental organization |
| Headquarters | Sidney, British Columbia |
| Region served | North Pacific Ocean, Bering Sea, Sea of Japan, Arctic Ocean margins |
| Membership | Canada; People’s Republic of China; Japan; Republic of Korea; Russian Federation; United States of America; Republic of Mexico |
| Leader title | Executive Secretary |
North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES) The North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES) is an intergovernmental scientific organization formed in 1992 to promote and coordinate marine research across the North Pacific basin. It links scientists from member states to address issues affecting the Bering Sea, Sea of Japan (East Sea), Gulf of Alaska, North Pacific Ocean, and adjacent marginal seas. PICES serves as a forum connecting research institutions, national agencies, and regional bodies such as ICES, APEC, UNESCO, and IOC of UNESCO.
PICES was established following negotiations among delegations from Canada, the United States, Japan, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Korea at meetings influenced by outcomes from the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea and the increasing multinational interest in the North Pacific. Founding participants included delegations from national research agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Fisheries and Oceans Canada alongside academic institutions such as the University of British Columbia and the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology. Over the 1990s and 2000s PICES expanded cooperation with People’s Republic of China and Mexico, formalizing thematic programs influenced by milestones such as the 1992 Rio Earth Summit and scientific assessments similar in scope to those by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and IPBES.
PICES is governed by an annual Governing Council meeting composed of official delegates from each member state and guided by an Executive Secretary and Secretariat located in Sidney, British Columbia. The organization operates through Committees and Technical Committees analogous to structures used by ICES and IOC. Principal organs include Science Board, Technical Committees on Monitoring, Data Management, and Training, and Working Groups modeled after those in organizations such as SCOR and PICES Science Board. PICES collaborates with national ministries like the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Japan) and agencies including Russian Federal Agency for Fisheries to align priorities.
PICES organizes long-term scientific programs addressing ecosystem status, climate impacts, and fisheries interactions. Signature programs include the PICES FUTURE program, which parallels initiatives like GLOBEC and IMBER, and working groups on Harmful Algal Blooms comparable to efforts by the Harmful Algae Bloom Research programme. Working Groups span topics such as zooplankton ecology, ichthyoplankton, harmful algae, marine biodiversity, and ocean acidification—mirroring themes in Census of Marine Life and Global Ocean Observing System. PICES also hosts time-series and synthesis projects informed by methodologies from Continuous Plankton Recorder surveys and protocols used by NOAA Fisheries.
PICES maintains formal and informal partnerships with regional organizations and international science programs, collaborating with North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission, Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, and North Pacific Coast Guard Forum on shared interests. It engages with global bodies such as IOC-UNESCO, ICES, SCOR, Sustainable Development Goals, and climate science initiatives like World Climate Research Programme to integrate North Pacific science into global assessments. Bilateral links connect PICES with national research centers including the National Institute of Fisheries Science (Korea), Tohoku National Fisheries Research Institute, and Russian Academy of Sciences institutes.
PICES has contributed to understanding regime shifts, climate-driven ecosystem changes, and transboundary fisheries dynamics in the North Pacific, producing assessments comparable to work by IPCC on climate impacts and by FAO on fisheries. Research themes include ecosystem-based management, marine biodiversity baselines similar to Census of Marine Life outputs, harmful algal bloom forecasting akin to NOAA HAB efforts, and ocean acidification monitoring in line with Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network. PICES syntheses have influenced policy dialogues in venues like Arctic Council and Association of Pacific Rim Universities by informing adaptive management and cross-border conservation planning.
PICES convenes annual Science Meetings, workshops, and symposia that attract participants from institutions such as Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, and major universities across member states. Proceedings, special issues in journals like Deep-Sea Research, ICES Journal of Marine Science, and monographs produced by PICES working groups disseminate findings. Cooperative workshops with organizations like PICES/ICES joint symposia and conferences linked to ABNJ and GEF projects expand the reach of its publications and data products.
PICES funding is provided by member governments through assessed and voluntary contributions managed by the Secretariat and supplemented by competitive grants from national agencies such as NSERC, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, National Science Foundation (US), and project support from multilateral funds like Global Environment Facility. Member governments—Canada, People’s Republic of China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, United States of America, and Republic of Mexico—provide delegates, in-kind support via national laboratories, and host meeting venues at institutions such as Vancouver Island University and Hakodate Research Center.
Category:International scientific organizations