Co-Convenors:
Douding Lu (China)
Vera Trainer (USA)

Invited Speaker:
Charles Trick (University of Western Ontario, Canada)

There is clear evidence of contrasting occurrence and impacts of fish-killing fish-kill flagellates between the western and eastern Pacific in the comprehensive dataset (2000–2012) assembled during the PICES-2012 workshop on contrasting HABs in PICES member countries. These data provide a unique opportunity for east–west Pacific comparisons to identify and rank those environmental factors that promote HAB success at different times. This workshop will focus on the fish killing species- Heterosigma akashiwo, Cochlodinium and Chattonella and ribotypes—organisms that historically have had massive economic impacts in western PICES member countries, as well as increasingly prevalent impacts in eastern Pacific coastal waters. The workshop foundation will be an extension of the current dataset to the 1990s and earlier where available, with PICES participants pre-submitting available data on: HAB species presence, maximum abundance, toxicity, optimal conditions for growth, time of year, temperature range, salinity range, water clarity, nutrients, wind, river flow (flooding), and upwelling indices. Workshop participants will evaluate the trends and patterns in these data to develop hypotheses for development into outlook products on day 1, and develop a detailed outline for manuscript preparation on day 2, including writing assignments and submission deadlines. The manuscript will be targeted for an appropriate peer-reviewed journal.