CEARAC Activity Report

First meeting of NOWPAP WG 3 (HAB)

NPEC was designated as CEARAC (Special Monitoring and Coastal Environmental Assessment Regional Activity Center) of NOWPAP (the Action Plan for the Protection, Management and Development of the Northwest Pacific Region) implemented by Korea, China, Russia and Japan under the initiative of UNEP.

HAB (harmful algal bloom) is one of the prioritized issues which have to be dealt with by CEARAC for the time being. The first meeting of Working Group (WG) 3 which was established under the jurisdiction of CEARAC for this purpose was held in Busan, Korea. The meeting discussed the long-term and short-term work plans and thereafter the following were agreed as the activities which should be initiated to begin with.

- To establish a HAB database for the NOWPAP region
A database consisting of secondary data and information on treatises and research reports concerning HAB is to be established so that data and information useful for taking countermeasures against HAB may be disseminated.

- To prepare national reports and their integrated report
Data and Information on the occurrence of HAB and countermeasures being taken by the NOWPAP member countries (China, Korea, Russia, Japan) are to be published in the form of a biannual report.

- To disseminate data and information through the homepage and the newsletters
Data and information on HAB and WG3 activity is to be disseminated through the homepage and newsletters.

[Outline of the meeting]
Date: 28 to 30 October 2003,
Venue: Haeundae Grand Hotel, Busan, Korea
Participants: about 20 including HAB specialists etc. from China, Japan, Korea and Russia


First meeting of NOWPAP WG 4 (remote sensing)

Marine environmental monitoring by remote sensing is also one of the priorities among CEARAC activities. The first meeting of the WG 4 which was established under CEARAC with specialists from NOWPAP member countries as its members was held in Vladivostok, Russia. In the meeting each member reported its present state and future plan concerning monitoring by remote sensing . Long-term and short-term work plans for NOWPAP were discussed and consequently the following were agreed as the activities which should be tackled in the beginning .

- To establish a portal site concerning remote sensing and a website concerning oil spill monitoring
The portal site is to be set up to locate information and data on remote sensing, which are scattered, and the website concerning information on oil spill monitoring is to be established in order to provide information useful for the formation of a NOWPAP monitoring program of the marine environment.

- To prepare national reports and their integrated report on monitoring by remote sensing of eutrophication and oil spill .

- To disseminate information through the homepage and the newsletters

[Outline of the meeting]
Date: December 1 to 3, 2003
Venue: Pacific Oceanological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia
Participants: about 15 including remote sensing specialists etc. from China, Japan, Korea and Russia


Meeting of the Research & Study Commission on Red tides/HAB

The meeting of the Research & Study Commission on Red tides/HAB Red tides/ HAB was held in April and July 2003, and February 2004. This committee is to give advice to CEARAC on an course of activities concerning red tides / HAB (harmful algal bloom), one of the prioritized issues of NOWPAP. The second and third meeting discussed how to proceed with the WG 3 meeting and an course of future activities for WG 3.

○　Members of Advisory Committee on HAB/red tides
Joji ishizaka,Professor of the Faculty of Fisheries, Nagasaki University
Ichiro Imai, Associate Professor of Department of Natural Resources, Graduate School of
Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University
Satoru Toda, Division Chief of National Research Institute of Fisheries and Environment of Inland Sea, Fisheries Research Agency
Yasuwo Fukuyo, Professor of Asian Natural Environmental Science Center, the University of Tokyo
Ken Furuya, Professor of Aquatic Bioscience, Graduate school of Agricultural and Life Science, the University of Tokyo
Osamu Matsuda,Honorary Professor of Hiroshima University
Tetsuo Yanagi,Professor of Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu University


Meeting of the Research and Study Commission on Application of Remote Sensing for Marine Environmental Monitoring

The meeting of the Research and Study Committee on Remote Sensing was held in April and July, 2003 , and February, 2004. This committee is to give advice to CEARAC on an course of activities concerning remote sensing, another one of the prioritized issues of NOWPAP. It is also to give advice to NPEC on the "Toyama Bay Project" (Research Project for Development of Algorithm for Remote sensing Water Quality in Toyama Bay) and the operation of the "Watch System on the Marine Environment in the Northwest Pacific Region".
○　Members of Research and Study Committee on Remote Sensing
Ichio Aasanuma, Researcher of Frontier Research Promotion Department, Yokohama Institute for Earth Sciences, Japan Marine Science and Technology Center
Joji Ishizaka, Professor of the Faculty of Fisheries, Nagasaki University
Hiroshi Kawamura, Professor of Center for Atmospheric and Oceanic Studies, Graduate School of Science Tohoku University
Toshiro Saino, Professor of Hydrospheric Atmospheric Research Center, Nagoya University
Takashi Moriyama, General Manager of Department of Application and Service, Remote Sensing Technology Center of Japan
Yoshifumi Yasuoka, Professor of Institute of Industrial Science, the University of Tokyo
Tetsuo Yanagi, Professor of Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu University
Jong-Hwan Yoon, Professor, Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu University

Announcement

CEARAC has opened a Web page to introduce its activity.
The address is https://cearac.nowpap.org./.


News

Mr.Tepfer, Executive Director of the Secretariat, UNEP visited CEARAC
Mr. Klus Tepfer, Eexecutive Director of the UNEP secretariat and Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations visited CEARAC on 16 February, 2004. Toyama Prefecture had requested his visit to Toyama to propagate NOWPAP activity in the prefecture.
He expressed respect to CEARAC for its achievement with limited number of staffers in a short period of time. He also mentioned that data collected by CEARAC / NPEC was very useful to the marine environmental protection in the populous NOWPAP region.
After the visit to CEARAC/NPEC, he observed the two rooms (next to CEARAC/NPEC) to be used as the Toyama office of the Regional Coordinating Unit (RCU) which will function as the head office of NOWPAP. He again emphasized the importance of its early establishment. Afterward, he delivered a speech under the title of "Sustainable Development in Northeast Asia, NOWPAP and Asia." In his lecture, he stated that the recruitment of the NOWPAP/RCU staff had been started officially.

back to menu