PICES

What PICES does

PICES (North Pacific Marine Science Organization) is an intergovernmental scientific organization founded in 1992 and headquartered in Sidney, British Columbia, Canada. Its six member countries — Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Russia, and the United States — task PICES with promoting and coordinating marine scientific research in the North Pacific and adjacent seas. The organization operates a secretariat of approximately 19 staff that supports an annual session, more than 30 expert working groups, and recurring scientific products including the North Pacific Ecosystem Status Report (NPESR), PICES Press, and peer-reviewed publications.

PICES's core scientific infrastructure centers on the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) Survey, which produces multi-decadal time-series plankton data, and on its network of expert working groups covering physical oceanography, biogeochemistry, fisheries, and ecosystem-based management. Technical capabilities extend into emerging analytics through Working Group WG-54 on "Deep Learning in Processing Plankton Images," indicating selective adoption of machine-learning methods to process long-running biological datasets. Joint working groups with the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), notably WG-53 and WG-54, extend PICES's research footprint into North Atlantic comparisons.

PICES is funded through assessed contributions from its six member nations supplemented by project-based grants from governmental and intergovernmental sponsors, exemplified by the CAD $3.68 million ADRIFT award from Japan's Ministry of the Environment. The organization does not generate commercial revenue; its outputs — scientific advice, data products, publications, and convening services — are consumed primarily by member-country science agencies, fisheries ministries, and the broader international marine research community.

Name

PICES

Legal name

North Pacific Marine Science Organization

Website

https://pices.int

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

PICES is an intergovernmental marine science organization coordinating North Pacific research among six member countries — Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Russia, and the USA. It operates from a secretariat in Sidney, British Columbia, supporting expert working groups, the CPR Survey, and ecosystem status reports.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Marine Science Coordination

NAICS

Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (54136)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Remote Sensing & Earth Observation Analytics (Satellite/UAV/LiDAR, Image Processing) (EUAHAKAD)

Keywords

• Marine science research
• Ocean monitoring
• Intergovernmental cooperation
• Scientific publications
• Capacity development

Headquarters

HQ city

North Saanich

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Member Country Contributions: PICES is funded through annual contributions from its member countries (Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Russia, USA). The Finance and Administration Committee oversees financial matters.
2. Project Funding: PICES receives dedicated project funding from government agencies for specific research initiatives. Example: Ministry of the Environment of Japan funded the ADRIFT project with $3,681,547 CAD.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

PICES is an intergovernmental scientific organization that promotes and coordinates marine scientific research and data exchange among its six member countries (Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Russia, USA) in the North Pacific. Its core activities include convening annual scientific meetings and international symposia, coordinating expert working groups and advisory panels, running long-term monitoring programs such as the North Pacific Continuous Plankton Recorder Survey, producing scientific publications and ecosystem status reports, and delivering capacity development programs (internships, visiting scientists, summer schools, ECOPs).

Product overview

PICES (North Pacific Marine Science Organization) is an intergovernmental scientific organization that does not offer commercial products or services. Its offerings include scientific publications (PICES Press newsletter, Scientific and Technical Reports, Special Publications, peer-reviewed journals, books, annual reports, fact sheets), scientific events (Annual Meetings, International Symposia, Summer Schools), capacity development programs (intern program, visiting scientist program, ECOPs program), awards (Wooster Award, POMA Award, PODA Award, Zhu-Peterson ECS Award, Chair Award, FUTURE ECOP Award), and expert group coordination through working groups, sections, advisory panels, and study groups focused on marine science disciplines.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• PICES Annual Scientific Meeting Annual flagship convening of marine scientists from the six PICES member countries (Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Russia, USA) for scientific sessions, workshops, expert group meetings, and collaboration across North Pacific marine science. Held annually (e.g., PICES-2026 'Actionable Science for a Changing Ocean', 24-30 October 2026, Nanaimo, Canada).
• Scientific Publications (PICES Press, Scientific and Technical Reports, Special Publications, Annual Reports, Fact Sheets, Book of Abstracts) Suite of PICES-branded scientific publications including the quarterly PICES Press newsletter, peer-reviewed scientific and technical reports, special publications, annual reports, expert group fact sheets, and the Book of Abstracts. Distributed to the international marine science community via the PICES website and at meetings.
• Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) Survey — North Pacific Long-term plankton monitoring program tracking plankton populations across the North Pacific Ocean, coordinated through PICES and member country institutions since 2000. Foundational data series for North Pacific Ecosystem Status Reports.
• North Pacific Ecosystem Status Reports (NPESR) Comprehensive assessment reports on the status of North Pacific marine ecosystems, including climate, biogeochemistry, plankton, fish, and human dimensions, produced periodically by expert study groups (SG-NPESR, currently working on the 4th edition).
• Expert Group Coordination (Working Groups, Sections, Advisory Panels, Study Groups) Coordination of more than 30 active expert groups (Working Groups e.g., WG-53 on Sustainable Pelagic Forage Communities; Sections; Advisory Panels e.g., AP-NIS, AP-ECOP, AP-UNDOS, MONITOR; Study Groups) engaging hundreds of scientists from member countries on specific marine science topics.
• Capacity Development Programs (Intern Program, Visiting Scientist Program, ECOPs, Summer Schools) Capacity development offerings for early-career and member-country scientists including the Intern Program (e.g., Saeseul Kim joined as intern in 2019; Yoho Saito current intern), Visiting Scientist Program, ECOPs (Early Career Ocean Professionals) under AP-ECOP, and Summer Schools (e.g., PICES-2026 Summer School on Ocean Biologging, Hakodate, Japan).
• PICES Awards Program (POMA, Chair Award, Wooster Award, PODA, Zhu-Peterson ECS, FUTURE ECOP) Awards recognizing contributions to PICES and North Pacific marine science, including the PICES Ocean Monitoring Service Award (POMA, since 2008), PICES Chair Award, Wooster Award, PODA Award, Zhu-Peterson ECS Award, and FUTURE ECOP Award. Recipients include JAMSTEC K2 Biogeochemical Time-series (2025 POMA) and Seoul National University EC1 Program (2024 POMA).
• ADRIFT Project (Assessing Debris-Related Impacts From the Tsunami) Multi-year dedicated research project funded by the Japan Ministry of the Environment to study the impacts of Japanese Tsunami Marine Debris on North Pacific ecosystems; ran April 2014 to March 2017 with funding of CAD $3,681,547.

Quantifiable outcome

• Long-term plankton monitoring across the North Pacific since 2000
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPICES maintains a formal collaborative relationship with ICES. Joint Working Groups have been established including WG-53 on Sustainable Pelagic Forage Communities and WG-54 on Deep Learning in Processing Plankton Images. Both organizations coordinate on scientific symposia and joint sessions.
• NPAFC (North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPICES collaborates with NPAFC on matters related to North Pacific marine science. NPAFC representatives participate in relevant expert groups.
• NOWPAP (Northwest Pacific Action Plan)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNOWPAP is a UNEP Regional Seas Programme covering the Northwest Pacific region. PICES cooperates on shared marine environmental concerns including non-indigenous species and pollution.
• JAMSTEC (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJAMSTEC is a key research partner for PICES, contributing to monitoring programs including the K2 Biogeochemical Time-series. Former researchers from JAMSTEC have joined PICES Secretariat staff.
• GOOS (Global Ocean Observing System)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPICES participates in GOOS through its Biology-Ecosystem Panel, contributing to global ocean observing system development.
• UN Decade of Ocean SciencecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPICES has established AP-UNDOS (Advisory Panel on United Nations Decade of Ocean Science) as a joint ICES-PICES Strategic Initiative to plan participation in the UN Decade of Ocean Science.
• GLOBEC (Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHistorical collaboration with GLOBEC on the CCCC (Climate Change and Carrying Capacity) program, which built strong linkages between PICES and GLOBEC research networks.
• WESTPAC (Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific works with PICES on data exchange and marine scientific research coordination.
• UNEP World Conservation Monitoring CentreminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPICES staff have been seconded to UNEP-WCMC to learn practical methods for science-policy interface applications.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP): NOWPAP is the UNEP Regional Seas Programme for the Northwest Pacific, focused on marine environmental protection. It overlaps geographically with PICES' domain and collaborates on non-indigenous species and pollution issues, though it concentrates more on policy/regulation than research coordination.
• Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP): AMAP is an Arctic Council working group that monitors Arctic pollution and climate, covering a different geography but applying a similar intergovernmental scientific-assessment model that produces periodic status reports analogous to PICES' NPESR.
• Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS): SOOS plays a comparable convening role for Southern Ocean science, coordinating observations across multiple nations. It mirrors PICES' regional-coordination function but in a different ocean basin and with a more recent institutional history, providing a structural analog.

Emerging players

• Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS): GOOS is the global framework for sustained ocean observations, with which PICES participates through its Biology-Ecosystem Panel. It is more infrastructure-and-data focused and operates globally rather than regionally, but addresses overlapping themes of monitoring coordination and data sharing.

Direct peers

• North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC): NPAFC is a treaty-based intergovernmental commission covering salmon and steelhead in the North Pacific, with overlapping membership (Canada, Japan, Russia, USA, Korea). PICES and NPAFC collaborate on relevant expert groups and share the same regional science-policy nexus.
• International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES): ICES is the most direct peer to PICES: an intergovernmental marine science organization coordinating research across the North Atlantic among ~20 member countries. Both bodies share a near-identical convening model — annual scientific meetings, expert working groups, scientific publications, joint PICES/ICES Working Groups (e.g., WG-53, WG-54), and the AP-UNDOS initiative.

Broad incumbents

• Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-UNESCO): IOC is the UN's broader intergovernmental ocean science body, covering all ocean basins and global programs like GOOS and OceanTeacher. It is a parent/umbrella organization relative to PICES and operates at a wider geographic and mandate scale, but PICES participates in IOC sub-commissions like WESTPAC.
• Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC): JAMSTEC is a major national marine science agency that conducts deep-sea research, operates ocean observatories, and participates heavily in PICES expert groups (e.g., K2 Biogeochemical Time-series, 2025 POMA Award recipient). It is comparable in subject matter but vastly larger in operational scale.
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): NOAA is the US national agency for ocean and atmospheric science, an active PICES member contributing the EcoFOCI Program (2021 POMA). It is comparable in mission area (marine monitoring, ecosystem science) but operates as a single national agency with much larger scale and direct policy authority.

Others

• Marine Biological Association of the UK (MBA): MBA continues operation of the Continuous Plankton Recorder survey that PICES' Executive Secretary Sonia Batten previously directed. It is a research and policy-facing marine science body with overlapping biological-oceanography themes, providing a peer for the operational side of the CPR program.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/picesmarinesci

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about PICES