An investigation of absorption and fluorescence of colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) in sea ice and sea water from the southern Sea of Okhotsk indicates that sea ice accumulates CDOM, likely due to biological activity. Sea-water CDOM had the characteristic featureless absorption diminishing exponentially with increasing wavelength, in contrast CDOM in sea ice showed distinct absorption peaks, which can potentially be traced back to compounds produced within the ice by ice algae for photoprotection. Older first-year sea ice had typically flat absorption spectra in the ultraviolet range, without the exponential increase as in sea water. Parallel factor (PARAFAC) analysis identified four fluorescent components, one humic-like and three protein-like components, all of which were present in both sea ice and water. Sea-ice CDOM was dominated by protein-like fluorescence, found in considerable excess relative to sea water, in contrast to underlying waters which were controlled by humic-like fluorescence. Despite significant CDOM production in ice and its release during ice melt, the net effect of CDOM from melting sea ice seems minor and results in a diluting effect, as older sea ice was characterized by flat absorption spectra in the ultraviolet, and thereby affecting the transparency of water after melt. However, transient, the CDOM introduced during sea-ice melt might provide a labile source of fresher protein-like DOM.