Chapter 1

Background and overview of the JSPS Coastal Marine Science Program

Shuhei Nishida1, Nobuyuki Miyazaki1 and Miguel D. Fortes2
1

Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa 277-8564, Japan 2 Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City 1101, The Philippines

Introduction The East and Southeast Asian countries are populated by more then 3 billion people whose activities have had large impacts on the surrounding coastal waters and marine ecosystems. These waters, in turn, provide these countries with a wealth of biological resources, necessitating sustainable management and utilization of the coastal areas. In particular, the Southeast Asian Region encompasses highly diverse marine habitats, represented by coral reefs, mangrove forests, sea-grass beds, estuaries, and deep marginal basins. The region is known for its highest species richness among the world oceans (e.g. Tittensor et al. 2010). The coastal areas of Southeast Asia, however, are also known as hotspots of adverse human impacts caused by industrialization and increase of urban population, resulting in such issues as the frequent occurrence of red tides due to eutrophication and pollution by heavy metals and other hazardous chemicals. Other serious impacts include land devel-

opment for industries, fish culture and tourism, overfishing, and destructive fishing, resulting in destruction of coastal habitats which encompass major nursery grounds for marine life. This has led to the marked decrease of fisheries resources and many animal populations, as are apparent in sea turtles, dugongs, and corals. Our knowledge and understanding of the coastal ecosystems in Southeast Asia before 1980s, however, were seriously insufficient to address the above issues. These were based mainly on conventional oceanographic observations in regional waters, historical expeditions as exemplified by the Challenger (187286), Valdivia (189899), and Naga Expeditions (1959 61) (e.g. Wyrtki 1961), and regional monographs of particular group of organisms, providing basic and useful information for comparison. Under this circumstance, there have been concerns about the urgent need to assess the present status of the health of the coastal ecosystems in Southeast Asia, understanding their structure and function, and identifying drivers of observed changes in them. This need was expressed

S. Nishida, M. D. Fortes and N. Miyazaki, eds. Coastal Marine Science in Southeast Asia Synthesis Report of the Core University Program of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science: Coastal Marine Science (20012010), pp. 310. by TERRAPUB 2011.

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at both local or domestic levels and by international communities/organizations, e.g. GEO (Group on Earth Observation), AP-BON (Asia-Pacific Biodiversity Observation Network), PEMSEA (Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia), and UNESCO/IOC/ WESTPAC (see, e.g. UNEP/COBSEA 2010, PEMSEA 2010). However, this is a large task, necessitating an integrative approach cutting across diverse research fields and disciplines, e.g. physics, biology, ecology, and chemistry. It also necessitates collaboration of related countries and/or communities in the region, since the diverse coastal systems comprise an interconnected entity and any boundaries observed in nature are essentially different from politically delineated borders. Since 1978 the Core University Program (CUP) of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) has played an important role in enhancing research and education in Southeast Asian countries by providing support for bilateral-type collaborations. As for coastal marine science, Ocean Research Institute (ORI, expanded to Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute (AORI) in 2010), the University of Tokyo, conducted bilateral joint research projects with Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia under the CUP since 1988. In response to the aforementioned needs for multilateral collaboration, the above projects were integrated and expanded into one Multilateral Cooperative Program titled Coastal Oceanography since 2001 with two new member nations, the Philippines and Vietnam. Since 2006 the project title has been changed to Coastal Marine Science (CMS) which better reflects the inter-disciplinary nature of the program. Core Projects To address the major issues in coastal marine science in Southeast Asia, the follow-

ing four core-projects were established within the CMS Program (Fig. 1). Project-1: Water circulation and material transport in the coastal areas and marginal seas of East and Southeast Asia (abbreviated as Material Transport in this volume) Project leader: Dr. T. Yanagi (2001 2010) Project-2. Ecology and oceanography of harmful marine microalgae (abbreviated as HAB, referring to Harmful Algal Blooms) Project leader: Dr. Y. Fukuyo (2001 2010) Project-3. Biodiversity studies in the coastal waters of East and Southeast Asia (abbreviated as Biodiversity) Project leader: Dr. K. Matsuura (2001 2010) To cover the highly diverse groups of organisms, the following four research groups were established and group leaders assigned within Project-3: 1) Seaweed/Seagrass: Dr. H. Ogawa (20012009) and Dr. S. Kawaguchi (2010) 2) Plankton: Dr. S. Nishida (2001 2010) 3) Fish: Dr. K. Matsuura (20012010) 4) Benthos: Dr. Y. Shirayama (2001 2010) Project-4. Pollution of hazardous chemicals in the coastal marine environment and their ecological effect (abbreviated as POME) Project leader: Dr. N. Miyazaki (2001 2009) and Dr. K. Inoue (2010) Each project/group consisted of members from six member countries specializing in the respective research field and nominated through discussion and communication between the program office, national coordinators and project leaders. These projects/groups played a major role in implementing the program objectives

Background and overview

through field research, training courses and workshops, publication of the results, and other outreach activities ( Fig. 1 ). Each project/group organized workshops on yearly basis, mostly at the occasions of their training courses/workshops and/or joint seminars, to communicate and discuss on their accomplishments, challenges, and planning. Organization There are three major components for the implementation of the program: program coordination, activities of the core projects, and domestic coordination ( Fig. 1 ). The whole program was managed by the Program Coordinator at ORI/AORI, the core institute of Japan, with support from the Program Secretariat for office management and communication. The core

projects were coordinated by the leaders with collaboration of members from all six countries. In the member countries, the national coordinators belonging to the core institutes (Table 1) were in charge of support for their domestic activities, such as those in getting official permissions for field research and specimen exchange and securing funding support for related research activities. They also coordinated the collaboration between core projects in their countries (Fig. 2). As a major activity for planning and implementing the project, and enhancing communication and collaboration between the core projects and member countries, a Coordinators/Project Leaders Meeting was held annually. This was done to summarize the accomplishments and discuss challenges, solutions and future plans (Table 2). Specifically, the two meetings in 2009

Fig. 1. Organization of the JSPS-CMS Program. Dashes denote changes in the persons incharge of the respective tasks.

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Table 1. Core- and collaborating institutions, national coordinators, and number of members (as of 2010) of the JSPS-CMS Program. Japan: 22 institutions, 120 members Core institution: Ocean Research Institute (20012010), Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute (2010), The Univ. of Tokyo Program coordinator: Katsumi Tsukamoto (20012005), Nobuyuki Miyazaki (20052009), Shuhei Nishida (2010) Collaborating institutions: Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The Univ. of Tokyo Asian Natural Environmental Science Center, The Univ. of Tokyo Center for Marine Environmental Studies, Ehime Univ. Faculty of Applied Biological Science, Hiroshima Univ. Faculty of Fisheries Science, Hokkaido Univ. Faculty of Agriculture, Kagawa Univ. Faculty of Agriculture, Kagoshima Univ. Faculty of Science, Kagoshima Univ. School of Marine Bioscience, Kitasato Univ. Faculty of Agriculture, Kochi Univ. Field Science Education and Research Center, Kyoto Univ. Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu Univ. Faculty of Bioresources, Mie Univ. Faculty of Agriculture, Nagasaki Univ. Hydrospheric Atmosphere Research Center, Nagoya Univ. National Museum of Nature and Science Faculty of Science, Univ. of the Ryukyus Graduate School of Science, Tohoku Univ. Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku Univ. School of Marine Science and Technology, Tokai Univ. Faculty of Marine Science, Tokyo Univ. of Marine Science and Technology Indonesia: 4 institutions, 41 members Core institute: Research Centre for Oceanography, LIPI National coordinator: Ono K. Sumadhiharga (20012004), Suharsono (20052010) Collaborating institutions: Sam Ratulangi Univ. Bogor Agricultural Univ. Diponegoro Univ. Malaysia: 7 institutions, 32 members Core institution: Universiti Teknologi Malaysia National coordinator: Mohd Ibrahim Seeni Mohd Collaborating institutions: Univ. Sains Malaysia Univ. Kebangsaan Malaysia Univ. Malaya Univ. Putra Malaysia Univ. Malaysia Sarawak Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) in Malaysia

Background and overview

Table 1. (continued).

Philippines: 6 institutions, 23 members Core institution: Univ. of the Philippines, Diliman National coordinator: Miguel D. Fortes Collaborating institutions: Univ. of the Philippines, Los Baos Univ. of the Philippines, Visayas De La Salle Univ. Mindanao State Univ. at Naawan Univ. of San Carlos Thailand: 6 institutions, 35 members Core institution: Chulalongkorn Univ. National coordinator: Supichai Tangjaitrong (20012002), Charoen Nitithamyong (20032010) Collaborating institutions: Kasetsart Univ. Burapha Univ. Department of Fisheries Prince of Songkla Univ. Phuket Marine Biological Center Vietnam: 2 institutions, 54 members Core institution: Haiphong Institute of Oceanography (20012004), Institute of Marine Environment and Resources (20052010) National coordinator: Nguyen Chu Hoi (2001), Tran Duc Thanh (20022010) Collaborating institution: Vietnam National Univ.

Fig. 2. System for international, domestic, inter-project, and infra-project collaboration in the JSPS-CMS Program.

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Table 2.
Date 2001, Aug. 2324 2002, Oct. 2124 2003, Dec. 1416 2004, Dec. 23 2005, Aug. 2426 2006, Nov. 68 2007, Aug. 4 2008, May 1920 2009, Feb. 1214 2009, Oct. 29 2010, Oct. 29 Venue

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List of Coordinators/Project Leaders Meetings.
Host Ocean Research Institute Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Chulalongkorn University University of the Philippines, Diliman Ocean Research Institute Institute of Marine Environment and Resources Research Center for Oceanography Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Ocean Research Institute Institute of Marine Environment and Resources Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute

Tokyo, Japan Langkawi, Malaysia Chiang Mai, Thailand Palawan, Philippines Tokyo, Japan Ha Long City, Vietnam Yogyakarta, Indonesia Malacca, Malaysia Tokyo, Japan* Haiphong, Vietnam** Kashiwa, Japan

*Held as First Ocean Research Workshop. **Held as Second Ocean Research Workshop.

Table 3. No. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Date 2003 Dec. 1416 2005 Aug. 2426 2007 Aug. 35 2009 Oct. 2628 2010 Oct. 2629

List of Joint Seminars on Coastal Marine Science. Venue Chiang Mai, Thailand Tokyo, Japan Yogyakarta, Indonesia Hai Phong, Vietnam Kashiwa, Japan* No. participants (overseas/local) 150 (87/63) 140 (69/71) 163 (76/87) 94 (65/29) 86 (56/30) No. presentations (oral/poster) 100 (70/30) 113 (36/77) 151 (115/36) 77 (56/21) 68 (posters only)

*Co-sponsored by IOC/WESTPAC: Horiba International Conference New Direction of Ocean Research in the Western Pacific Past, Present and Future of UNESCO/IOC/WESTPAC Activity for 50 Years and the JSPS Project: Coastal Marine Science .

Table 4. List of representative international symposia co-sponsored by JSPS-CMS Program and/or co-organized by project members.
3rd UNU (United Nations University)-ORI Joint Workshop on Marine Environment: 2001, International Coastal Research Center (ORI), Japan UNU-ORI-Iwate Joint Symposium Man and Ocean: 2002, organized by POME, Tokyo, Japan 4th UNU-ORI Joint Workshop on Marine Environment: 2004, International Coastal Research Center (ORI), Japan 5th UNU-ORI Joint Workshop on Marine Environment: 2004, International Coastal Research Center (ORI), Japan UNU-ORI-Iwate Joint Symposium Man and Ocean: 2006, organized by POME, Iwate, Japan 6th UNU-ORI Joint Workshop on Marine Environment: 2006, International Coastal Research Center (ORI), Japan 6th IOC/WESTPAC Symposium: 2005, Nha Trang, Vietnam The ASEAN International Conference Conservation on the Coastal Environment: 2007, Chulalongkorn University, organized by POME, Bangkok, Thailand 7th IOC/WESTPAC Symposium: 2008, Kota-Kinabaru, Malaysia LIPI-NaGISA Western Pacific Conference, 2629 Oct. 2008, Jakarta, Indonesia 8th IOC/WESTPAC Symposium 2011, Busan, Korea

Background and overview

were held as the First and Second Ocean Research Workshop, with a special funding from JSPS, to discuss research and collaboration after 2010. The results of the scientific research by core projects were presented and discussed in the Joint Seminars, held biannually in different member countries, and in other international and domestic symposia and meetings ( Tables 3, 4). Overview With the above project contents and organization, 255 scientists from 24 collabo-

rating institutes (Indonesia, 4; Malaysia, 7; Thailand, 6; Philippines, 5; Vietnam, 2) and 120 Japanese scientists from 22 collaborating institutes joined this program and worked together under a set of common principles (Table 1). Eleven national coordinators meetings (Table 2), 5 joint seminars (Tables 3, 5 ), and 80 workshops were organized and implemented. In order to encourage young scientists, we also had training courses using the field guides of fish and seagrass, original text books, and analytical manual of hazardous chemicals. As a result of the activities in the program, we published approximately 1200 peer-

Table 5.

List of Proceedings from the Joint Seminars. Number of papers in brackets.

Proceedings of the First Joint Seminar on Coastal Oceanography, 1416 Dec. 2003, Chiang Mai, Thailand (ed. Nitithamyong C). Dept Mar. Sci., Fac. Sci., Chulalongkorn Univ., 303 pp., 2004. (35) Proceedings of the Second Seminar of JSPS Multilateral Core University Program on Coastal Oceanography, 24 26 Aug. 2005, Tokyo, Japan (eds. Miyazaki N, Tsuskamoto K). Coast. Mar. Sci. 30 (Special Issue), 406 pp., 2006. (62) Proceedings of the Third Joint Seminar on Coastal Marine Science, 3 5 Aug. 2007, Yogyakarta, Indonesia (eds. Matsuura K, Kodama M, Miyazaki N, Nishida S, Suharsono, Yanagi T, Fukuyo Y, Shirayama Y). Mar. Res. Indonesia 32(2), 33(1, 2); 218, 107, 234 pp., 2007 2008. (52) Proceedings of the Fourth Joint Seminar on Coastal Marine Science, 2628 Oct. 2009, Hai Phong, Vietnam (eds. Miyazaki N, Arai T, Inoue K, Fukuyo Y, Kawaguchi S, Matsuura K, Nishida S, Shirayama Y, Yanagi T). Coast. Mar. Sci. 34 (Special Section): 59235, 2010. (25)

Table 6. Number of publications by the JSPS-CMS Program members based on researches in the Program and cooperative activities. Articles are classified into five categories. 1: peer-reviewed articles in international journals. 2: peer-reviewed articles in other periodicals. 3: articles in proceedings (including those published in special volumes of journals). 4: books, and articles in books. 5: other publications. Category of publication Project/group P-1 P-2 P-3 Sw/Sg* P-3 Plankton P-3 Fish P-3 Benthos P-4 Total 1 28 117 108 117 180 28 223 801 2 9 41 21 12 47 26 13 169 3 19 46 49 53 27 19 16 229 4 0 9 29 9 33 12 47 139 5 0 1 4 3 9 2 11 30 Total 56 214 211 194 296 87 310 1368

* Seaweed/Seagrass Group.

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reviewed scientific papers (800 articles in international journals, 170 in other publications, 230 in proceedings), 140 books and/or book chapters and 30 articles in other forms of publication (Table 6 , Appendix-2). Especially, the field guides of fish and sea grass and the analytical manual and CD of hazardous chemicals are highly favorably evaluated by scientists and the institutes/universities of the above Asian countries.

These activities are detailed in the following chapters. Part II focuses on the scientific accomplishments and Part III on the other activities focusing on capacity building and outreach, both by core projects/ groups, and Part IV on the activities within the collaborating countries synthesized by national coordinators. Part V synthesizes the accomplishments of the program, with particular reference to the challenges and future provisions.

References
PEMSEA (2010) PEMSEA Accomplishment Report (20082010) . PEMSEA, Quezn Sity, 34 pp. Tittensor DP, Mora C, Jetz W, Lotze HK, Ricard D, Vanden Berghe E, Worm B (2010) Global patterns and predictors of marine biodiversity across taxa. Nature 466 : 1098 1101. UNEP/COBSEA (2010) State of the Marine Environment Report for the East Asian Seas 2009 (ed. Chou LM), COBSEA Secretariat, Bangkok, 156 pp. Wyrtki K (1961) Scientific results of marine investigations of the South China Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, physical oceanography of the Southeast Asian waters. Univ. Calif., NAGA Rept. No. 2: 1 195.