The North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) and the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES) announce a symposium on “The status of Pacific salmon and their role in North Pacific marine ecosystems” to be held on October 30 – November 1, 2005 at the Lotte Hotel Jeju, 2812-4, Saekdal-dong, Seogwipo, Jeju-do, Korea. The symposium will be organized and hosted by NPAFC and PICES.

Background

Pacific salmon are important components of the entire complex of aquatic ecosystems, from the spawning rivers to the open North Pacific Ocean. They migrate thousands of nautical miles, and some stocks intersect and mix in different geographical zones ranging over one-sixth of the Globe. The instantaneous biomass of Pacific salmon in the ocean is several million tonnes, which is comparable to the biomass of other pelagic fishes of the Northern Pacific. At the beginning of 21^st century, about eight hundred thousand tonnes of Pacific salmon are harvested each year, making a significant contribution to the fishery resources of the countries in the North Pacific. But there have also been significant variations in salmon abundances over the past decade. The time is therefore appropriate to hold a joint symposium that integrates Pacific salmon into North Pacific marine ecosystems, and examines the extent to which Pacific salmon, since they return to coastal regions, can be used as indicators of conditions in North Pacific marine ecosystems. The symposium will serve as a follow-up to the broader PICES Special Publication on Marine Ecosystems of the North Pacific.

Symposium topics

1. Status of Pacific salmon, trends in abundance and biological characteristics

1.a  Trends in abundance and biological characteristics
	(i)	Pink salmon
	(ii)	Chum salmon
	(iii)	Sockeye salmon
	(iv)	Chinook salmon
	(v)	Coho salmon
1.b  How can ocean conditions be observed using Pacific salmon?
	(i)	Ocean diets of Pacific salmon as an indicator of plankton production
	(ii)	Ocean distribution (southern limit, northern limit, east-west shifts, winter distribution) as indicators of ocean conditions
	(iii)	Biological characteristics of Pacific salmon (body size, growth, age, maturity, lipid content) as indicators of ocean conditions

2.a  Migration routes, migration timing, and resident areas for populations of Pacific salmon and what they tell us about environmental conditions on small to mid-scales
	(i)	Information on open ocean stock distributions, their interannual changes, and oceanographic characterisations of these regions
	(ii)	Spatio-temporal variation in vertical distributions of Pacific salmon
2.b  Spatial scales of salmon and environmental variability (i.e. over what spatial scales and regions do salmon act as indicators of environmental variability?)
	(i)	Large-scale analyses of co-variation of salmon stocks
	(ii)	Migration and distribution routes, timing, and duration that salmon spend in the coastal and open ocean areas (What environmental factors are likely to influence these locations while salmon are there?)

3.a  Observations: what observations of Pacific salmon populations indicate climate variability most clearly?
	(i)	The impacts of global warming on abundance and distribution of Pacific salmon
	(ii)	Bioenergetic responses of Pacific salmon to climate and ecosystem variation
3.b  Mechanisms: how is climate variability transmitted to variability in Pacific salmon populations?
	(i)	Growth of juvenile salmon in first marine year and overwinter survival
	(ii)	Spatio-temporal interactions between salmon and predators

• The two and a half day session will include up to 25 oral presentations, and posters.

• Abstracts must be received by May 1, 2005 by the NPAFC Secretariat via e-mail (secretariat@npafc.org)


• Abstracts must be 400 words or less in English


• All authors will be notified of the selection results by the end of May


• Selected presenters will receive guidelines for submission of manuscripts. The deadline for submission of manuscripts for publication is December 1, 2005

• The papers presented in the symposium will be peer-reviewed and published

• Registration and fee information will be included in the Final Announcement, scheduled for distribution at the end of July, 2005.

• Hotel accommodation information will be included in the Final Announcement, scheduled for distribution at the end of July, 2005