Co-Convenors:
Takafumi Yoshida (Japan/NOWPAP)
Chris Rooper (USA)
Invited Speakers:
Malcolm Clark (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Wellington, New Zealand)
Noriaki Sakaguchi (IPBES Asia-Pacific Regional Assessment, IGES Tokyo Office, Japan/NOWPAP)
Marine ecosystems in the North Pacific are influenced by multiple emerging threats, such as rising sea temperature, harmful algal blooms, marine invasive species, hypoxia and eutrophication. These multiple threats can act synergistically, but perhaps differently, from region to region to change ecosystem structure, function and dynamics. In order to enhance conservation and sustainable use of marine ecosystems in the North Pacific region, it is essential to identify critical threats to them. This will require consultation across PICES and NOWPAP member countries to collect extensive information covering potential main threats. Recently, PICES' Working Group 21 reported on the status of non-indigenous aquatic species in the North Pacific region. That report is complemented by additional studies to identify and characterize ecosystem responses to multiple stressors through Working Group 28. CEARAC, one of the four Regional Activity Centres of NOWPAP, recently launched a project to assess the impact of major threats to marine biodiversity in the western North Pacific. A goal of this activity is to select appropriate indicators for marine biodiversity conservation and develop marine environment assessment methodology for the future. This workshop will discuss common assessment indicators to understand the status of major pressures/stressors/threats to marine biodiversity and to identify future collaborations between PICES and NOWPAP. The workshop will contribute to understanding of marine ecosystems in the North Pacific by selecting candidate indicators for investigating their status in the North Pacific. The output from the workshop will also contribute to FUTURE activities.