Co-Convenors:
James Irvine (Canada/NPAFC)
Elizabeth Logerwell (USA/PICES)

Invited Speakers:
Katherine (Kate) Myers (University of Washington, USA)
Hiromichi Ueno (Hokkaido University, Japan)

Pacific salmon (genus Oncorhynchus) are an important ecological and economic species complex widely distributed throughout the North Pacific Ocean. In recent years, there have been large, often unanticipated, fluctuations in abundance and survival that may be climate-change related. Understanding the causes of variable salmon production will be critical to predicting future abundance levels and harvest opportunities. This has been a major concern for the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC), which has responsibility for scientific research and enforcement for conserving anadromous salmon and steelhead trout in the North Pacific Ocean.

This workshop is intended to build on recommendations from a report prepared by the NPAFC/PICES Study Group in the spring of 2014. The workshop will bring together researchers in fisheries and oceanography to improve understanding of the mechanistic linkages between salmon and their ecosystem. Of the many topics of overlapping interest between the two organizations, it is envisaged that this workshop will focus on one question: Where do Pacific salmon go in the winter and why, and how might this be affected by climate change? Prior to the workshop, salmon researchers will assemble information on where chum and perhaps pink and sockeye salmon are thought to live during the winter including depth, temperature and salinity. Oceanographers and climate specialists will be provided these data prior to the workshop so that they can do preliminary work on the extent of the habitats suitable for salmon, both currently and subsequently based on various scenarios of climate change.