LLTK and PSF held a workshop with 90 U.S. and Canadian participants and a 15 member advisory panel (including experts in the field working in the Gulf of Alaska and Columbia River Plume/California Current) to receive feedback from the broader scientific community regarding the critical elements of a transboundary research program. Several recommendations resulted from this workshop: The Results and Recommendations of the Salish Sea Marine Survival Research Planning and Ecosystem Indicators Development Workshops (2013). Based upon the workshop recommendations, LLTK and PSF determined that three research areas (1. trend analyses and modeling, 2. bottom-up sampling, and 3. data sharing) required the greatest functional alignment between U.S. and Canada. The workshop also re-affirmed the value of the two nonprofits intensely collaborating on communications, fundraising, strategic planning and project management.