Item 9b
September 2008
Funding Request to Work on the North Pacific Ecosystem Status Report - 2 nd edition
A. Background
The North Pacific Marine Science Organization ( PICES ) is an intergovernmental scientific organization established in 1992 to promote and coordinate marine research in the northern
North Pacific and adjacent seas. Its present members are Canada, Japan, People's Republic of
China, Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, and the United States of America.
The PICES Mission is to promote and coordinate marine scientific research in the North Pacific
Ocean in order to advance scientific knowledge of the area and its living resources.
The goal is to advance scientific knowledge and capacity available to the Contracting Parties, including information on human activities affecting, and affected by marine ecosystems, and to provide a mechanism for collaboration among scientists in addressing timely and critical scientific questions.
In 2004, PICES published a special publication titled Marine Ecosystems of the North Pacific, see: http://www.pices.int/publications/special_publications/NPESR/2005/npesr_2005.aspx
This 278 document provided a status report on the ecosystems of coastal and oceanic regions throughout the North Pacific Ocean, addressing system components from Climate and
Hydrography through Fish, Birds and Mammals. Also included were special chapters on salmon fisheries and halibut fisheries.
PICES is now preparing an update of this report, to be published late in 2009.
Part 1 of this ecosystem status report will include chapters on the following regions:

California Current (lead author USA or Canada)

Alaska Current (lead author USA)

Bering Sea (lead authors USA/Russia)

Okhotsk Sea (lead authors Russia and Japan)

Oyashio / Kuroshio (lead authors Japan)

Japan / East Sea (lead author PICES secretariat)

Yellow Sea / East China Sea (lead authors Korea and China)

Oceanic region (lead authors, USA/Japan/Canada)
Part 2 of this ecosystem status report will be a synthesis and integration of all regions, to develop a status report on issues that cross the entire North Pacific basin, and to determine to what degree basin wide Climate and Ocean indices are affecting all regions simultaneously.
At least three of the nine regions are directly relevant to NPRB. Others are less directly relevant but of interest for comparative purposes – i.e. are changes in the NPRB regions also occurring in other regions, thus implying the entire system is responding to some large scale forcing (climate or ocean regime change)? This synthesis will particularly look for changes occurring across
1

Item 9b
September 2008 several or all regions. It also will look at the status of important fisheries that span several regions (Pacific salmon and Pacific halibut).
B. The request.
The magnitude of the report and the short time frame for its preparation require that it be done outside of the traditional PICES Working Group process. Instead, the status report will be coedited by Dr. Skip McKinnell from the PICES secretariat (PhD in Fish Biology) and Dr. Michael
Dagg, Chairman of the PICES Biological Oceanography Committee (PhD in Biological
Oceanography). There will be an Editorial Board to provide guidance and advice to lead authors and to prepare the synthesis chapters. Lead authors are to be appointed from PICES countries as described in the Background Section. There will be regional workshops during late 2008 and early 2009, a synthesis workshop in mid-late 2009, and the document will then be peer reviewed and revised before final publication at the end of 2009. This request will support Dagg to assist with development and preparation of the status report.
Dagg will spend an estimated 3-4 months on various aspects of the status report, especially the synthesis components. Much of the work can be done between Dagg and McKinnell via email and at other PICES sponsored events, Here, funds are requested to support two one-week periods of direct collaboration and discussion between Dagg and McKinnell at the PICES offices near Victoria British Columbia. Funds are requested for salary, and travel/per diem during this two week period. Additional salary costs for Dagg’s time on this project will be borne by his institute. The total request is $15,701 (see attached budget breakdown and explanation).
D. Budget explanation
Salary. Funds are requested to cover Dagg’s salary during the 2 weeks he is at the PICES offices.
All other time spent on this status report will be covered by Dagg’s institute.
Fringe benefits. LUMCON fringe benefits are set at 25 % of salary
Travel expenses are requested for the 2 weeks Dagg will be at the PICES offices, estimated as follows for each visit
Air fare 800 (RT New Orleans – Victoria)
Lodging
Food
900 (150 per night for 6 nights)
300 (50 per day for 6 days)
Rental car 240 (small car for 6 days)
Total 2240 per trip
Indirect cost rate at LUMCON is 43% of direct costs. This is a federally-negotiated rate.
2