NR-PR-01-092E

October 3, 2001

Victoria, B.C. – PICES, the North Pacific Marine Science Organization, will celebrate its tenth anniversary with a conference for its international membership from October 5 – 13, 2001, at the Victoria Conference Centre. This anniversary meeting is supported by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The international headquarters of PICES is located at the Institute of Ocean Sciences, one of the Department’s nine scientific research facilities, in Sidney, B.C.

PICES is an intergovernmental scientific organization established in 1992 to: promote and coordinate international marine research in the northern North Pacific; advance scientific knowledge about the ocean environment, global weather and climate change, living resources and their ecosystems, and the impacts of human activities on northern ecosystems; and, promote the collection and rapid exchange of scientific information on these issues. Six nations officially belong to PICES – Canada, Japan, People’s Republic of China, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation and the United States of America.

PICES has become a major focus for international cooperation in marine science in the North Pacific. From the beginning, the PICES approach has been multidisciplinary and focussed on biological oceanography, fishery science, physical oceanography and climate change, and marine environmental quality.

"The first Annual Meeting of PICES was held in Victoria in 1992, and our delegates are very excited to be back in Victoria for PICES’ 10^th anniversary," said Dr. Alexander Bychkov, Executive Secretary of PICES. "In total, more than 400 scientists, officials and managers from all PICES member countries, Mexico, United Kingdom, and China–Taipei, and representatives of many international scientific organizations and programs will be attending the tenth Annual Meeting. Our premiere symposium on October 8^th will review the progress of our first decade of cooperation and consider new directions for oceanographic and marine ecosystem research in the North Pacific."

The public is invited to attend a series of lectures on issues facing the North Pacific:

• Paul Kennedy, Host and Producer of the popular CBC radio Ideas program, will lead a lecture and discussion on "Exciting developments in learning from the Oceans" at Lester B. Pearson College on October 6, between 8-10 p.m. The program will be featured via an interactive webcast on www.racerocks.com with Pearson College students also on location at Race Rocks. Race Rocks was announced as Canada’s first Marine Protected Area under the Oceans Act on September 14, 2000.
• Dr. Vera Alexander, PICES Vice-Chairman and Dean of the School of Fisheries & Ocean Sciences at the University of Alaska, will speak on "Trouble in the northern North Pacific? As the wind blows…" on October 10, from 6-8 p.m. at the Victoria Conference Centre.
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada scientist Dr. Richard J. Beamish, internationally-renowned researcher, will challenge our conceptions about fish and the marine environment in his lecture "Changing how we think about fish" on October 12, between 6-8 p.m. at the Victoria Conference Centre.
• Dr. Nathan Mantua, representative from the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Oceans located at the University of Washington, will present "Biotic consequences of climate variations: a review of empirical evidence for strong biophysical interactions in the North Pacific" on October 12, between 2:30-4 p.m. at the University of Victoria (Elliott Bldg. Rm. 168)

For more information about PICES and the conference, please visit http://www.pices.int. To commemorate the 10^th Anniversary, PICES commissioned the newly published Historical Atlas of the North Pacific Ocean by Derek Hayes (Douglas and McIntyre; 224pps). This beautifully illustrated publication is an excellent resource for oceanographers, history buffs and chart-lovers alike. This publication contains many new features of scientific discovery such as a graphic history of how the ocean bottom was first mapped and how the courses of wind, currents and water temperature were accurately plotted on the first charts of North America’s west coast.

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