Advancements in digital modeling have allowed for the development of simulated objects or systems, so called “Digital Twins”, with applications from business optimization to tailored health care treatments. While the term is broadly applied in various disciplines it is relatively new to marine ecosystem modeling but is increasingly being developed to evaluate spatial and resource management under alternative scenarios. These simulated systems allow users to apply various changes and alterations and explore “what if” scenarios to improve decision making and resource management. Digital Twins are especially useful in climate change planning to explore alternative adaptation responses and to evaluate the potential benefit of carbon mitigation approaches in marine environments. This session will explore the application of Digital Twins methodologies in marine systems management and planning, with a focus on utilization for climate change planning and response. The 1-day session will include a mix of presentations and posters exploring:

1. Overviews of Digital Twin approaches in oceanography, ecological and socioeconomic modeling applications;
2. Case studies of application of Digital Twins towards planning and response;
3. Best practices and approaches for utilization of Digital Twin methodologies, including integration with AI and other machine learning methodologies;
4. Review of future applications and advancements of Digital Twins towards climate ready fisheries and marine Ecosystem Based Management.

This Session will provide an opportunity to showcase how Digital Twin approaches are a dynamic, inclusive, and efficient framework for addressing the largest management challenges facing marine ecosystems. Outcomes of the session may include a peer-reviewed publication of the state of Digital Twin approaches for marine climate change science and planning.

Email S1 Corresponding Convenor

Over the past several decades, extreme climate events (ECEs) have become more frequent and intense, resulting in devastating, long-lasting ecological and socio-economic impacts on both global and regional scales. ECEs include both extreme physical conditions (e.g., marine heatwaves) as well as biogeochemical extremes (e.g., ocean acidification, deoxygenation, harmful algal blooms, coral bleaching). Although the episodic nature of these events may be due to natural causes, their extreme character is exacerbated by the changing background conditions associated with global warming. These events affect marine ecosystems at all trophic levels mainly through shifts in habitat distribution, biodiversity, and communities, resulting in the destruction of coastal biogenic habitats. A deepened understanding of the complexity of these impacts, which may unfold over time, is needed, and requires continuing analysis of conditions following past events.

Since mid-2023, the Earth’s climate has exhibited exceptional heating conditions, with the highest sea surface temperature anomalies occurring over broad areas of the North Pacific, and especially in the Kuroshio-Oyashio region. Understanding these unprecedented recent conditions in terms of natural processes and/or anthropogenically-forced warming, is of paramount importance for the PICES community.

To advance prediction efforts in support of mitigation efforts, updated statistical characterizations of ECEs (e.g., in terms of intensity, frequency, duration, and three-dimensional evolution) are needed, together with a more accurate identification of their driving mechanisms, both local and remote, natural or anthropogenic. Improved characterization and understanding of compound events, i.e., the cooccurrence of different types of physical and/or biogeochemical extremes, are also needed.

This session, which received an enthusiastic participation during PICES 2025, intends to provide a muchneeded platform to share the growing body of research on this topic, closely aligning with the priorities of PICES 2026, and supporting the efforts of WG-49. In particular, this session will allow to compare and contrast the processes underpinning the development of physical/biogeochemical ECEs across different North Pacific regions in order to identify possible intervention strategies.

In this session, we welcome contributions on ECEs and related compound events on the following topics: 1) Physical and biogeochemical processes associated with extreme events in the Pacific, 2) Subsurface events and their relationship with surface ECEs, and 3) Prediction and projection of extremes. Studies focusing on recent physical or biogeochemical extremes are especially welcome.

Email S2 Corresponding Convenor

Modern ocean and ecosystem models are rapidly gaining the capability to skillfully forecast physical, biogeochemical, and higher trophic level components of marine ecosystems. Such forecasts have significant potential to support climate-ready management, as they often align with the tactical decision-making timescales of individuals, businesses, and governments. While many forecasting efforts are extensions of long-standing work in numerical modeling and climate prediction, rapid progress is occurring in several areas including incorporation of new physical understanding in model development, higher resolution at regional scales, predicting extreme events, and leveraging new statistical and AI/ML methods. In this session, we invite contributions that highlight improved understanding of ocean and ecological predictability, advances in marine ecosystem prediction, and applications of these predictions to ocean decision making. Submissions addressing all aspects of the North Pacific’s social-ecological systems are welcome, from physics to upper trophic levels and socioeconomic impacts, on timescales ranging from days to decades. This session will serve as a forum for sharing and discussing emerging frontiers and successes in ocean prediction and climate-informed decision making, facilitating connections between researchers working across disciplines and regions.

Email S3 Corresponding Convenor

Urbanization is a pervasive form of land use change in coastal regions that has wide ranging and severe impacts on the health of adjacent marine ecosystems and the people that live there. Localised urban stressors and their cumulative effects continue to erode the health of coastal oceans and estuaries, impacting their capacity to support productive marine ecosystems, the resilience of urban centers to climate change (e.g., shore line protection, blue carbon capture), and the well-being of urbanized people (e.g., subsistence, recreation, cultural practice). There is an urgent need to take action that supports the sustainability of urban oceans. By necessity, sustainability research requires consideration of environmental, ecological, and human dimensions, and therefore inter- and transdisciplinary approaches. Such research needs to be inclusive of different knowledge types and co-developed among researchers, stakeholders, and rightsholders. Critically, translation of research to action requires the inclusion of policy and regulatory decision makers in science processes to bridge the science/policy interface. In this context, this session invites presentations that address pathways to resilient and sustainable urban oceans, including monitoring strategies, metrics and indicators of ocean health that can inform benchmarks and restoration, framing of socio-ecological systems, and approaches to connecting science to decision making and policy. We encourage presentations representing different knowledge types, stakeholders and rightsholders.

Email S4 Corresponding Convenor

Changing ecosystems in the North Pacific are creating new challenges for fisheries management and for the governance of transboundary migratory species. Improving the use of ecological information across different spatial and temporal scales and strengthening cross-national cooperation have become essential for addressing regional ecosystem changes. At the same time, marine ecosystem research is entering a stage marked by large volumes of data and increasing model complexity, creating a need for new approaches that can identify key drivers and improve prediction. A central question is how to integrate advanced interpretable machine learning methods with ecosystem-scale information to better understand the ecological processes of transboundary species and to provide decision support for management and conservation that is practical, traceable, and scientifically transparent.

Across the North Pacific, tools such as ecosystem models, agent- or individual-based models, species distribution models (SDMs), cumulative impact assessments, and climate vulnerability assessments are being widely applied to investigate large-scale climate impacts on marine species. With the expansion of data sources (e.g., remote sensing, Argo floats, automated catch and fishery-effort data processing), the increasing complexity of ecosystem models, and growing management needs across member countries, machine-learning modeling approaches are emerging as key technologies linking “ecosystem-scale science” with “policy and decision-making”. Deep learning-enhanced SDMs, machine learning surrogate models for complex ecosystem models, deep neural networks for climate and environmental prediction, and reinforcement learning approaches for fisheries management optimization have all demonstrated strong potential to improve our capacity to understand climate-ecosystem-fisheries interactions across broader spatial and temporal scales. However, gaps and inconsistencies remain across the region regarding the integration of ecosystem-scale information and AI tools into management processes, particularly for transboundary species.

This session will feature representatives from member nations to explore climate impact and fisheries management research based on ecosystem-scale data. We cordially invite experts, managers, and other stakeholders in fisheries, conservation, and related fields to share their experiences, challenges, and achievements in integrating ecosystem-scale scientific knowledge into decision-making processes, and in applying machine-learning-enabled and interpretable machine learning methods in climate-ecosystem-fisheries research. The goal is to highlight the latest ecosystem-scale research across the North Pacific region and to explore how AI and deep learning can complement existing scientific approaches, enhance decision support, and strengthen the scientific foundation for adaptive, climate-resilient management strategies.

Email S5 Corresponding Convenor

Ocean acidification (OA) study now has long history of over 30 years, and plenty of knowledges for its physical/chemical forcing as well as its biological and biogeochemical affections were accumulated. Nevertheless, we had not yet succeeded to suppress this problem, and precise assessment of its risk for ocean ecosystem and fisheries are not enough due to complexity of biological responses. We thus need to review our footsteps in this science topics, and extract insufficient points to further progress this study area. Meanwhile, marine negative carbon dioxide removal technologies become essential to achieve 1.5 0C goal of IPCC, and ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) technology arises as one of its major choices. Physical/chemical processes that controls OAE quite overlaps with that of OA, while OAE processes are far more complex than that of OA. Biological responses against OAE is also not the mirror image of that of OA, but methodology and strategy for the assessment of biological responses has large overlaps between these two study areas.

In this session, we call the studies from both OA and OAE communities, so that we can review current progress and insufficient points of each study area, and foster cross-disciplinal dialogue and collaborations between these two adjoining topics.

Email S6 Corresponding Convenor

We have benefited from new and promising techniques for ocean observations using fabricated and new sensors (e.g., acoustics, optics, electromagnetic waves) under active and passive propulsion platforms (e.g., surface and subsurface drifters, unmanned autonomous vehicles) to monitor the ocean environment and ecosystem in ocean physics, biology, and biogeochemistry. We invite contributions on ocean observational approaches to obtain primary ocean variables and to obtain unprecedented measurements of physical, biological, and biogeochemical ocean properties, and on integrated efforts using different platforms and sensors. We welcome contributions of low-cost ocean observations and new approaches by citizen scientists using new and existing sensors and platforms.

Email S7 Corresponding Convenor

Description: The ocean is changing and so are the rules of marine survival. Rising temperatures, altered currents, and shifting stratification are transforming marine food webs at an unprecedented pace. It is causing prey species to move, decline, or disappear and is forcing predators to adapt or be pushed into unfamiliar waters where direct conflicts with human activities may occur. Humans are also extending activities further offshore including fishing effort and offshore wind farms. What begins as a bottom-up shift in ocean conditions can cascade into top-down behavioral changes, creating direct competition between humans and wildlife for the same resources. This can increase rates of entanglement, bycatch, gear damage, and depredation as predators forage near fishing operations. Habitat compression can further intensify these risks as sharks, seabirds, turtles and marine mammals are squeezed into shallower zones where greater densities of vessels, nets, and infrastructure occur. This session will examine the ecological domino effect linking oceanographic change to human–wildlife conflict. It will explore how predator–prey dynamics amplify risk, why recovering predator populations intersect with fisheries, and what strategies can help anticipate and mitigate these interactions. Understanding these dynamics is needed to safeguard wildlife, support fisheries and reduce costly conflicts as ocean ecosystems continue to transform.

Email S8 Corresponding Convenors

Forage communities represented by small pelagic fish and invertebrates support large fisheries worldwide and in the North Pacific Ocean. These communities also represent a key link in the trophic web of aquatic ecosystems and exhibit large fluctuations in response to environmental variability, predation pressure, and harvest. Climate ready fisheries must account for both the direct and indirect impacts of small pelagic communities on ecosystem services.

This session will welcome contributions that investigate the environmental, ecosystem, and anthropogenic drivers of dynamics on forage communities. This may include studies that enhance knowledge of the role of forage fish in trophic webs (e.g., studies that explore the spatio-temporal changes of forage communities in response to prey density or predator abundance, studies that link predator success to forage community dynamics). Studies that explore the dynamics of recruitment and processes impacting the productivity of forage communities (e.g., studies of bottom up or top down processes, studies that provide mechanistic links between recruitment and environmental variables) will also be welcome. We expect that studies that link small pelagic communities to ecosystem-based fisheries management or single species stock assessment using novel approaches will be especially valued. Finally, studies on the socio-economic impacts of forage communities are welcome, including integrated biological-economic models or analyses and models or analyses of fishing community response and adaptation to climate. We anticipate that this topic session may include a broad array of topics related to small pelagic communities, but with an emphasis on studies that can lead to providing actionable scientific advice for decision makers that provides the knowledge required to put in place robust management systems for forage communities.

Email S9 Corresponding Convenors

Long-term observations are essential for detecting, understanding, and responding to ecosystem changes in the North Pacific. This session will bring together researchers and practitioners to explore the use and value of sustained observations to ecosystem understanding, resilience, and sustainability. Contributions may include the use of multi-decadal datasets from monitoring programs, local initiatives, and traditional knowledge systems; integrative monitoring approaches; methodological and data science innovations; and case studies demonstrating the application of long-term data to understanding and responding to climate extremes and coastal impacts, ecosystem change, fisheries management, and climate adaptation. Speakers are encouraged to highlight experiences and innovations across the full data and sample pipeline, including collection, processing, management, sharing, analysis, and use. This could include the application of artificial intelligence (AI), environmental DNA (eDNA), and other emerging methods. The session aims to provide an opportunity for knowledge sharing on existing ocean observing and monitoring initiatives throughout the North Pacific, including how the data, samples, or knowledge are currently used or could be applied in the future. It will also explore ways to integrate diverse knowledge systems to strengthen scientific understanding and support stewardship of North Pacific marine ecosystems.

Email S10 Corresponding Convenor

Understanding population connectivity is important for a wide range of applications including management of fisheries and invasive species, and conservation. However, understanding population connectivity remains one of the most challenging aspects of marine ecology. Relevant to both benthic and pelagic species, connectivity shapes stock structure, recruitment, and population resilience, and is increasingly affected by climate-driven changes in ocean conditions that can rapidly alter migration routes, nursery contributions, and stock boundaries. This session brings together approaches to understand connectivity, population structure and migration to clarify their implications for management and conservation from a variety of disciplines. Presentations can range from genomic analyses that reveal patterns of gene flow, biophysical models that simulate larval dispersal, and population dynamics models that incorporate movement and connectivity. We also welcome studies using natural or artificial tags, including chemical analyses of archival structures (e.g., otoliths and eye lenses), to reconstruct movements and identify recruitment sources. By synthesizing evidence across method and regions, this session aims to highlight how improved knowledge of connectivity can inform stock definitions, improve spatial management, and support adaptive strategies under changing environmental conditions. 

Email S11 Corresponding Convenor

Climate-driven changes in the North Pacific, including recent marine heatwaves, northward shifts in commercially important fish stocks, and impacts on protected species, are accelerating across national boundaries. These changes affect fisheries, ecosystems, and coastal communities throughout PICES member countries. However, fragmented monitoring networks, barriers to data sharing, and misaligned management timelines and objectives often limit our ability to anticipate and respond to ecosystem changes. As a result, early warnings can be missed and management actions delayed when stocks and environmental conditions cross borders, but data and decisions do not. This session will examine emerging challenges, opportunities, and practical solutions for transboundary ecosystem science. Contributions are invited under three themes: (1) coordinated monitoring and data sharing to detect climate-driven change at relevant spatial scales; (2) assessment frameworks and modelling approaches that improve understanding of environmental drivers and support projections for shared stocks; and (3) effective communication of transboundary ecosystem information to strengthen management and policy across jurisdictions. We welcome case studies and innovations such as harmonized surveys, shared modelling platforms, open data initiatives, and collaborative approaches for developing management advice. By bringing together examples from throughout the North Pacific, this session aims to identify steps to improve our understanding and prediction of transboundary ecosystems under climate change and to support the management of shared marine resources.

Email S12 Corresponding Convenor

For the past 70 years, monitoring activities at Ocean Station Papa, including but not limited to the Line P monitoring program, have created one of the longest running time series of oceanographic conditions in the world. And, it’s in our own North Pacific Ocean. The modern Line P oceanographic sampling program transects the eastern part of the subarctic Northeast Pacific Ocean three times per year, monitoring 27 hydrographic stations along a ~1400 km transect leading from the coast of Vancouver Island (BC, Canada) offshore to Ocean Station Papa (50 N, 145 W). The survey forms the basis for cutting-edge, multi-disciplinary research on ocean dynamics, biology and chemistry and include studies on extreme climate events (ENSO, marine heatwaves) and iron enrichment. Long-term surveys along Line P have also served as an integral component of North Pacific ocean status reports, as well as a training ground for the next generation of oceanographers. This topical session will showcase and celebrate seven decades of oceanographic research facilitated by this unique monitoring program. We invite contributions from all oceanographic disciplines representing individual and multidisciplinary projects both historical and current.

Email S13 Corresponding Convenors

The Biological Oceanography Committee (BIO) has a wide range of interests spanning from molecular to global scales. BIO targets all organisms living in the marine environment including bacteria, phytoplankton, zooplankton, micronekton, benthos and marine birds and mammals. In this session, we welcome all papers on biological aspects of marine science in the PICES region. Contributions from early career scientists are especially encouraged.

Email BIO Paper Session Convenors

This session invites papers addressing general topics in fishery science and fisheries oceanography in the North Pacific and its marginal seas, except those covered by Topic Sessions sponsored by the Fishery Science Committee (FIS).

Email FIS Paper Session Convenors

This session invites papers addressing the promotion, coordination, integration and synthesis of research activities related to the contribution of the social sciences to marine science, and to facilitate discussion among researchers from both the natural and social sciences. We invite abstract submissions on any of these topics.

Email HD Paper Session Convenors

Papers are invited on all aspects of marine environmental quality research in the North Pacific and its marginal seas, except those covered by Topic Sessions sponsored by the Marine Environmental Quality Committee (MEQ).

Email MEQ Paper Session Convenors

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 sponsored by the Physical Oceanography and Climate Committee (POC).

Email POC Paper Session Convenors

Marine ecosystems are changing rapidly under combined climate, fishing, and socio-economic pressures. Fish-MIP, the Fisheries and Marine Ecosystem Model Intercomparison Project, provides a coordinated, multi-model framework for quantifying these responses globally, while the PICES community contributes leading regional modelling capacity across the North Pacific.

FishMIP was launched in 2013 to address how climate change will affect marine biodiversity, fisheries, and seafood supply by bringing together a global network of over 100 ecosystem modellers. Using standardized protocols and global ensemble modeling, FishMIP combines diverse models to produce robust projections that help inform policy and management decisions for climate-resilient fisheries.

The new Fish-MIP 2.0 phase builds on this foundation, emphasizing (1) ensemble approaches linking global and regional scales, (2) AI-assisted modelling and open-data tools, and (3) integration of market, management, and socio-economic drivers into climate-forced ecosystem models (e.g. the Ocean System Pathways). Notably, FishMIP 2.0 is working toward more reliable model projections and addressing a broader set of policy-relevant questions, especially in the fields of food security and marine resource management. This workshop aims to bridge FishMIP’s global modeling expertise with the leading regional modeling capacity of the PICES community, particularly across the North Pacific, to share methodological advances, evaluate the transferability of global ensembles to regional and data-poor contexts, and develop a roadmap for joint research supporting climate-resilient fisheries management.. By bringing together both the Fish-MIP and PICES communities, the workshop will:

1. Showcase recent advances in regional marine ecosystem model ensembles and AI-assisted data tools.
2. Evaluate global ensemble projections for regional applications, focusing on uncertainty and data-limited systems.
3. Explore downscaling of climate and socio-economic scenarios, in collaboration with the FishMIP WG on Ocean System Pathways.
4. Test the robustness of alternative fisheries management strategies under climate change.
5. Identify collaborative priorities, data standards, and funding pathways for a FishMIP–PICES regional modelling network.

Through keynote presentations, break-out discussions on AI tools and uncertainty evaluation, and collaborative planning sessions, the workshop will support PICES objectives related to ecosystem forecasting and adaptive management across member nations. Expected outcomes include a workshop report, shared datasets and pipelines, and draft funding concept notes to drive future collaborative research and support climate-resilient fisheries.

Email W1 Corresponding Convenors

Massive populations of mesopelagic and epipelagic fishes and invertebrates are found in the ocean’s subtropical and subarctic gyres, well beyond the boundary current ecosystems. Scientists and natural resource managers often mention mesopelagic fish resources as a reserve of protein for humans although there are large uncertainties related to the biomass of those resources, their dynamics, and drivers of those dynamics. These populations have not often been targeted for harvest and so our understanding of these populations is hampered by the lack of fisheries data and limited research emphasis. However, these meso- and epipelagic communities serve as critical forage for highly migratory pelagic fishes, cetaceans, turtles, and seabirds, as well as play an important role in the ocean carbon cycle and as consumers of secondary productivity.

This workshop will bring together experts to exchange information and knowledge on the dynamics and status of mesopelagic fishes, as well as to estimate progress since past PICES efforts (e.g., WG14 in 2005 and the AP on Micronekton Sampling Inter-calibration Experiment in 2010). The workshop will focus on describing the progress in assessing the biomass and distribution of mesopelagics with the desire to understand dynamics and temporal variability of these species. In this workshop, we will seek out contributions that offer insight to the dynamics of forage communities in the ocean’s subtropical and subarctic gyres, regions that are typically beyond the reach of coastal pelagic fisheries. How do these forage communities change over time? What factors influence these changes? What are the consequences of such changes for the highly migratory predators that depend on these populations as forage? How can new technologies and data approaches help shed light on open ocean forage communities?

Email W2 Corresponding Convenor

All speakers in W3 are pre-assigned.

Under the increasing pressure of global warming, marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) now becomes an essential approach in our future greenhouse gas mitigation toolbox. This suite of enhanced natural and technological methods is closely intertwined with natural carbon cycles, and its impact on biogeochemical cycles of carbon, oxygen, and nutrients must be thoroughly assessed throughout its development process. This is not simple, because the mCDR community includes people from many backgrounds such as technology and social science, and not all of them are familiar with ocean science. Similarly, scientists engaged with the natural carbon cycle also must acquire basic knowledge of these other fields to create effective communication among mCDR communities.

For this reason, the Section on Carbon and Climate held a preliminary workshop on this topic at PICES 2025, and successfully reviewed the current status of ongoing mCDR research projects in PICES countries, as well as the current status of mCDR protocol development. We discovered that several shortcomings exist in current mCDR research frameworks, such that the current mCDR community lacks consistency in its approach to verification systems despite several co-existing protocols for a single mCDR technology, and that some current mCDR projects have been implemented without official participation of biological and/or biogeochemical scientists. Further work is also needed to improve the performance of ocean carbon cycle models in reproducing alkalinity and pCO2 distributions in the North Pacific Ocean, which mCDR projects rely on for their verification methods. S-CC/PICES needs more detailed information from and interactions with other mCDR communities to contribute to practical future actions in the field. In particular, our first WS lacked input from US government groups, who are actively involved in mCDR research. Information about mCDR research status in non-PICES countries (e.g., ICES countries) is also needed to inform S-CC/PICES future mCDR contributions. For these reasons, the participants agreed to hold a second workshop at PICES 2026. In the second workshop, we plan to invite additional experts from mCDR projects and research studies funded by the US government, as well as experts from mCDR projects and research studies ongoing in ICES area.

Throughout the workshop, we will discuss practical future action plans to resolve the recognized shortcomings in current mCDR approaches. We also plan to establish a draft “white paper” assessment of the most feasible, low-impact current mCDR efforts to deploy in ocean areas adjacent to PICES countries, as the final output of these consecutive workshops.

Email W3 Corresponding Convenor

With advanced sea ice retreat, the Arctic gateways show early and intense physical and ecological changes in marine waters. These changes transfer into the Central Arctic Ocean (CAO), where internationally coordinated efforts assess capacity, feasibility and ecological and societal impacts of exploratory fishing under the auspices of the Central Arctic Ocean Fisheries Agreement (CAOFA). Understanding the connections and transports from the Pacific and Atlantic Arctic gateways, either directly or via Arctic coastal seas, are crucial in understanding how climate change and other human pressures impact the ecosystem and fisheries potential of the CAO. Particularly input from the Pacific has been identified as a gap by the joint PICES/ICES/PAME Working Group on an Integrated Ecosystem Assessment for the Central Arctic Ocean.

Over the period of 1974-2014, the date of summer sea ice retreat has occurred earlier at a rate of approximately -0.7 d/yr. The years 2017-2019 were identified as anomalously warm in the Pacific Arctic region and were characterized by substantial winter sea ice loss. Additional physical changes in the Pacific Arctic include increased heat transport of Pacific water through the Bering Strait, increased occurrences of marine heat waves, and increased storm activities in the High Arctic. Enhanced bird and mammal mortalities have also been reported. In the Atlantic, North Atlantic water influences the Arctic Ocean climate, a process referred to as “Atlantification”. Boreal Atlantic fish have extended their range northwards, e.g. Atlantic cod have been observed within the CAO, while other large predatory fish (haddock, beaked redfish) have been observed in the vicinity of the CAO. Sea Temperatures in the Barents Sea have increased gradually since 1980 and included occurrences of marine heatwaves. Longer durations of the ice-free season increased the primary productivity of the Barents Sea and biomass of small copepods and early life stages has strongly increased. This may reflect a combination of factors due to local effects and progressing Atlantic influences. Changes in Arctic cod (boreogadus saida) are expected to experience changes in habitat and abundance with warmer waters and changes in predator-prey interactions through Arctic gateways. Ecological impacts linked to physical changes range from phytoplankton and marine bacteria to marine mammals and ultimately Indigenous Peoples.

Through a combination of invited and contributed talks, we will synthesize and advance research on the connectivity and transport of physical and ecological indicators, environmental and ecosystem changes, and pollutants from the Arctic gateways to the CAO. Building on these presentations, we will use discussion sessions (group discussions, world café) to identify the key questions to be addressed in the next 10 years to understand how the Arctic gateways impact ecosystems and fisheries potential in the CAO and how these impacts may influence equitable adaptation, policy and conservation pathways.

Email W4 Corresponding Convenor

All speakers in W5 are pre-assigned.

Building networks to share knowledge and capacity is essential to understand, forecast, manage, and adapt to climate-driven changes in marine ecosystems and their associated fisheries. PICES actions under the auspices of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, SmartNet and BECI, are developing these networks, with the aim of convening global partners to address challenges associated with climate impacts, marine ecosystem health and productivity, and food security. As PICES pivots to a more actionable, solution-oriented scientific portfolio, it is essential to establish effective communications pathways – to ‘break down barriers and build bridges’ – amongst the scientific, management and stakeholder communities. In this workshop, we will explore how multiple and interacting oceanographic, ecological, and social data streams are being used to facilitate effective implementation of fisheries management and adaptation strategies within a multi-dimensional, complex and changing environment. We invite a broad array of participants (oceanographers, climate scientists, fisheries scientists, social scientists, managers and other stakeholders), across the PICES community and beyond, to: (1) explore the various mechanisms used to integrate complex environmental and social information into operational ecosystem-based fisheries management; and (2) review the existing tools/systems, gaps and pathways forward for climate-informed ecosystem and fishery management. An outcome of this Workshop could be a white paper outlining ‘best practices’ for enhancing partnerships and co-designing climate-informed ecosystem management across the PICES scientific and stakeholder communities.

Email W5 Corresponding Convenor

The North Pacific Ocean is the epicenter of the global marine plastic crisis, yet the scientific data needed to inform management and mitigation remains fragmented. Across the PICES region, extensive monitoring is underway, but differences in methodology, metadata, and QA/QC standards still limit how these datasets can be compared or combined to support large-scale inference. With major PICES member nations investing in monitoring infrastructure and data repositories (e.g., Japan’s AOMI portal and NOAA’s NCEI microplastics database in the U.S.) now is a critical moment to align our efforts.

This workshop will identify and prioritize existing monitoring efforts, collaboratively defining a clear path toward harmonized plastic-pollution indicators across the North Pacific. By working directly with representative data, participants can assess QA/QC constraints, identify interoperability needs, and reveal spatial trends across the North Pacific basin.

After an invited presentation and lightning talks, the majority of the full-day workshop will be dedicated to breakout sessions in which participants collaboratively evaluate how harmonization might operate for their respective data types and metrics, focusing on questions such as:

• What are the objectives of monitoring programs? Whose objectives are we prioritizing?
• What metadata fields are essential versus “nice-to-have”?
• What QA/QC thresholds are required for inter-comparability?
• Which methodological differences present major incompatibilities?
• How do different QA/QC filters influence spatial assessments at the PICES scale?
• What existing databases exist for reporting and compiling data?

Workshop outcomes will include agreement on initial priority indicators (up to two biotic and two abiotic), a preliminary set of harmonized methods and reporting requirements for those indicators, and a plan for post-workshop data synthesis. These products will form the basis of a white paper, with a subsequent full report and peer-reviewed publication outlining indicator selection, recommended protocols, and interoperable data platforms to support long-term, coordinated plastic pollution monitoring across the North Pacific.

Email W6 Corresponding Convenor

All speakers in W7 are pre-assigned.

Extreme climate events (ECEs) – marine heatwaves, cold spells, and periods of intense acidification or hypoxia – occur with increasing regularity across the North Pacific. These anomalous events have ecological (e.g., population die-offs, harmful algal blooms) and socioeconomic (e.g., fishery collapses, fleet redistributions) consequences. Management systems around the North Pacific are beginning to grapple with the resource and policy challenges created by ECEs, but the pace of adjustment varies regionally and by sector. A holistic review of the physical drivers, and ecological and socioeconomic impacts of ECEs around the North Pacific would support managers and researchers in predicting, preparing for, and responding to ECEs as the impacts of global climate change to the world’s oceans continue to manifest. In this workshop, invited participants will (1) review summary results of the 2024-2026 systematic review of ECEs conducted by WG49, (2) engage in a structured discussion to identify key findings and relevance for the research and management communities, and (3) scope out the first draft of a manuscript censusing ECEs around the North Pacific. This draft, in service of WG49’s terms of reference, will also form part of WG49’s final report to PICES.

Email W7 Corresponding Convenor

Building on the outcomes of Workshop 8 (PICES-2025), where participants shared practical examples of community-led like the marine management in the Marshall Islands, traditional ocean diplomacy practices from the Pacific, and community-based monitoring initiatives in Canada, the 2026 workshop continues the momentum toward integrating local and traditional knowledge into ocean science. The follow-up meeting held after Workshop 8 also emphasized the need for more dialogue-driven spaces and showed the emergence of a growing network across PICES, APN, SmartNet, and community partners. Responding to this feedback, the 2026 workshop aims to bring together diverse knowledge holders to deepen the conversation and co-design more inclusive and actionable pathways for ocean stewardship.

The proposed workshop also aligns with the UNDOS SmartNet Programme’s mandate to strengthen global knowledge networks and supports the Ocean Decade’s call for co- created, societally relevant ocean science. We understand that this call requires that other ways of knowing and creating knowledge be considered in the formation of information about oceans. Exploring how we achieve this goal is the central purpose of this proposed workshop. Rather than a traditional presentation-based format, the workshop will prioritize dialogue, collaboration, lived experience, creative expression, and shared reflection. Participants will collectively explore how different knowledge systems perceive ocean-related challenges, how they generate and communicate knowledge, and how they can work together to co-design solutions that are meaningful, innovative, and implementable.

This highly interactive workshop will bring together scientists, Indigenous knowledge holders, artists, storytellers, science communicators, ocean practitioners, community leaders, early-career professionals, and other rightsholders from across the PICES region and beyond to co-create shared understanding and actionable pathways for ocean stewardship grounded in multiple knowledge systems. By weaving diverse ways of knowing, including scientific, artistic, cultural, Indigenous, and practice-based expertise, the workshop will explore how a transdisciplinary and co-design approach can generate more inclusive, creative, and actionable solutions for ocean sustainabilit

Email W8 Corresponding Convenor

Poster sessions are a cornerstone of scientific conferences, yet they often draw the same recurring critiques from both presenters and attendees. Many posters are overloaded with text, lack visual clarity, are difficult to interpret at a glance, make poor use of figures, and fail to communicate a clear take home message. Even when attendees do stop to learn about someone’s research, they often find themselves listening to a long, unfocused mini lecture rather than a crisp, engaging 30–60 second summary.

This workshop tackles those challenges directly. You’ll learn practical strategies to design posters that attract attention, communicate your science effectively, and spark meaningful conversations—without overwhelming or losing your audience.

The training will be delivered online, and will be followed by a short in person session at the PICES meeting prior to the poster session as follows:

1. Registration (August): Participation is limited to individuals who submit an abstract to one of the PICES-2026 sessions/workshops and request a poster presentation. A link to the Workshop 9 web registration form will be posted here. No additional workshop registration fee is required; the workshop fee is included in the meeting registration fee.
   
   
2. Initial Poster Submission (Late August–Early September): Registered participants will submit a draft of their conference poster to the workshop organizers. The upload link will be posted here. File naming format: Session/WorkshopNumber-PaperIDNumber-PresenterName.pdf (Example: S10-17807-JulieSmith.pdf).
   
   
3. First Online Workshop (September): Participants will attend a virtual training session covering the principles of effective poster design. All draft posters will be accessible in a shared folder so participants can view one another’s work. Breakout groups will provide an opportunity to exchange constructive feedback and brainstorm improvements. Participants will then revise their posters over the following 2–3 weeks.
   
   
4. Second Online Workshop (Early October): Revised posters will be reviewed in a follow up session. Participants will again work in small groups to refine their layout, messaging, and visual design.
   
   
5. In Person Pre Poster Session Meeting: Just before the official poster session, participants will gather briefly in person to practice and share their 30–60 second poster pitches and discuss what they learned through the redesign process.
   
   
6. Poster Showcase at the PICES Meeting (October): Workshop participants will display their original and final revised posters side by side during the poster session. This side by side comparison is designed to spark discussion among PICES attendees about best practices in science communication.

Email W9 Corresponding Convenor

All speakers in W10 are pre-assigned.

PICES Working Group 48 PICES Working Group 48 identified core indicators for ecosystem status assessment across the North Pacific. The next challenge is implementation: How do we collect, standardize, and synthesize these indicators across multiple countries and distinct ecoregions to enable more timely assessments and meaningful cross-regional comparisons?

In this day-long workshop, participants will develop a practical pilot framework by focusing on one priority indicator (e.g., zooplankton biomass or primary productivity) across 2-3 ecoregions. This focused approach will create a replicable template for broader implementation.

The workshop will feature brief presentations from:

• Representatives from large-scale ecosystem assessment programs (e.g., ICES Integrated Ecosystem Assessments) to share lessons learned on standardization and synthesis
• A data scientist specializing in cross-jurisdictional data harmonization to address technical challenges

This workshop will:

• Review a map of existing data sources for the pilot indicator across target ecoregions (map to be completed in advance of workshop)
• Assess cross-regional comparability and flag key standardization needs
• Develop draft metadata standards and data quality requirements
• Identify practical barriers to data sharing and propose solutions
• Outline a data submission and synthesis workflow

This hands-on workshop is designed for: ecosystem scientists, data managers, and monitoring program coordinators who work with or use ecosystem time-series data. Participants ideally have knowledge of regional monitoring programs, NPESR, and/or use of ecosystem indicators in management contexts.

By the end, attendees will have co-developed a pilot implementation package that includes:

1. Standardized data submission protocols
2. Cross-regional comparability criteria and assessment
3. Quality control requirements and metadata standards
4. A replicable workflow template for data synthesis

This package will serve as a proof-of-concept that can be scaled to additional indicators and ecoregions for future NPESR updates and ecosystem assessments.

This workshop is intended to support the PICES NPESR update process, the BECI Knowledge Network, national and multinational ecosystem assessments.

Email W10 Corresponding Convenor

Coastal and shelf regions are critically important due to their direct influence on human societies, yet they exhibit highly complex physical and biogeochemical variability across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. This inherent complexity makes it challenging to assess long-term trends and diagnose extreme events, including marine heatwaves (MHWs). To address these challenges, several North Pacific nations have established and maintained long-term (>20 years) mooring networks and other fixed-platform observational systems. These platforms collect high-frequency measurements—typically at minute- to hourly-scale intervals—providing essential information for understanding processes occurring across multiple temporal scales, from tidal and synoptic variability to interannual and decadal change.

Marine heatwaves (MHWs) are becoming increasingly common in the North Pacific, profoundly altering marine ecosystems and affecting climate indicators such as ENSO and PDO. While the drivers of open-ocean MHWs are relatively well understood, the mechanisms that generate, sustain, or advect extreme thermal anomalies in shelf and coastal waters remain poorly understood due to the heterogenous variability, tidal processes, wind events, freshwater inputs, and rapid water mass transitions, all of which complicate the detection and interpretation of extreme events. Notably, subsurface MHWs can persist for years after open-ocean events, underscoring the need for coordinated investigation using long-term mooring records.

The first half of the workshop will bring together updates from participating member countries, with the goal of completing an overview of available coastal and shelf mooring data—both surface and subsurface—and diagnosing regional sub/surface MHW characteristics. Building on these discussions, the workshop will develop a framework that integrates coastal and shelf MHW characteristics across the North Pacific. Such a framework would provide a foundation for basin-scale synthesis, improve scientific understanding of extreme coastal ocean conditions, and support ecosystem assessment and climate-resilience planning.

Email W11 Corresponding Convenor

Posters from any workshop or science sessions that do not fit the workshop or session scopes will be moved to the General Poster Session

Email GP Session Convenor