• Acronym: WG-55
• Parent Committees: BIO, POC
• Established: PICES-2025
  (GC Decision 2025/S/13)
• Duration: PICES-2025 - PICES-2028
  
• Mailing List

Ocean acidification (OA) and its biological effects are occurring on various spatial and temporal scales. Therefore, in order to accurately grasp the progress of OA and take effective measures, it is necessary for each country to conduct monitoring in various oceanic regions with different marine environments, analyze the data obtained, and share and mutually compare the results obtained. However, the methods used for monitoring and the degree of data sharing achieved have varied from country to country, and this has been a major challenge for the integrative analysis and assessment of the state and impacts of OA in the North Pacific region. This working group aims to contribute to the comprehensive scientific understanding of OA in the western and eastern North Pacific by 1) accelerating the acquisition of monitoring data, 2) compiling the data collected in different countries as inventory data and making the data available for mutual comparison between countries/regions, and based on the intercomparison, and 3) create scientific interpretation that can explain inter-national/regional difference of temporal OA variation. This working group also aim to 4) make recommendations to facilitate integration of the data sets and facilitating information exchange on the biological effects of OA, throughout the above activities 1)-3). This would be in collaboration with international research organizations, such as the Global Ocean Acidification Observation Network (GOA-ON), which has directly addressed these issues by establishing a data portal and other means.

The aim of this Working Group is relevant to the PICES Strategic Plan from the following perspectives:

1. Foster collaboration among scientists with other multinational organizations such as GOA-ON, Integrated Marine Biosphere Research (IMBeR), and International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES).
2. Help understand the status and trends of OA, and possible impacts on marine ecosystems and society, due to the loss of marine biodiversity.
3. Advance monitoring methods and tools for assessing OA parameters.
4. Provide scientific insights about OA by compiling and synthesizing monitoring data in each country.

Linkage(s) to Previous PICES Expert Groups Activities
This Working Group builds on the previous work of WG 13, WG 17, and WG 33, and will coordinate its activities closely with the Section on Carbon and Climate (S-CC). It is also expected that this WG will inform and be informed by the work of WG 49, WG 52 and WG 53.

Linkage(s) to Other Organizations and Programs
This Working Group fills a gap in the current GOA-ON global observing network and will complement the work of its various regional hubs. It will also be useful to ICES scientists studying biological impacts of ocean acidification in the Atlantic and Arctic.

Terms of Reference

1. Assist member countries in establishing effective OA monitoring and the data sharing that is necessary for evaluating current and projecting future OA and its impacts on marine ecosystems and society around the North Pacific.
2. Summarize on a basin scale the present status and changing rate of OA in North Pacific open ocean and marginal seas.
3. Understand the variability of coastal acidification existing along the North Pacific coastal areas, as well as their mechanisms.
4. Ensure effective mutual communication with other international scientific groups that have experience and responsibility for the coordination of OA studies, such as GOA-ON, IMBeR, and ICES.
5. Communicate the needs of biologists to chemical monitoring programs to infer species and ecosystem responses, evaluate the needs and requirements of a biological monitoring program, and develop a theoretical framework linking chemical changes to biological response, with the GOA-ON Biology Working Group.
6. Provide scientific interpretation and evaluation of OA impacts on marine ecosystems and society in the wand eastern North Pacific.
7. Organize webinars, symposia and workshops, and publish a scientific paper on monitoring and data syntheses of OA, as well as the compound impacts of OA with ocean warming, deoxygenation, and other local stressors in the North Pacific.
   
   

Time Line and Expected Deliverables
Year 1 (2026)

• Acquire monitoring data in each country.
• Hold webinar and WG meeting (just before or after PICES annual meeting).

Year 2 (2027)

• Compile the data collected in different countries as inventory data.
• Make the data available for intercomparison between countries/regions in the western and eastern North Pacific.
• Analyze national/regional difference of OA patterns based on the compiled data set.
• Hold webinar and WG meeting (just before or after PICES annual meeting).

Year 3 (2028)

• Make recommendations to facilitate integration of the data sets and facilitating the sharing of relevant monitoring data and information exchange on the biological effects of OA.
• Draft and submit a scientific paper which explains the observed national/regional difference of OA patterns based on the analysis of the compiled dataset
• Hold webinar and Working Group meeting (just before or after PICES annual meeting).
• Draft and submit a final PICES scientific report.
  
  

Data Management Plan
Acquired data shall be managed by the national oceanographic data center in each country. Furthermore, data that becomes available for release shall be made publicly accessible through sequential uploads to the GOA-ON portal site, thereby facilitating cross-national data comparison and discussion.