PICES 2009 - sharing knowledge to share understanding

As most of you know, this past week after visiting with the Yeosu Mayor (see blog below), I joined Dr Clarence Pautzke, Executive Director of the North Pacific Research Board, at the Annual North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES) 2009 meeting in Jeju, South Korea. PICES is the premiere marine vehicle for science/fisheries collaboration between the six North Pacific Countries (Russia, Korea, China, Japan, the USA and Canada). NPRB is an active partner in PICES activities. My attendance was primarily in support of my role as Chair of the NPRB, although I did manage to get a little Sealife Center business done while here!

This year’s PICES meeting was one of the largest ever – 490 delegates from 17 countries, 272 oral presentations and another 147 posters – full program details are available at http://www.pices.int/meetings/annual/PICES-2009/2009-background.aspx, and presentations and reports will be uploaded to that site over the next 3-6 months. The theme of the conference was ‘Understanding ecosystem dynamics and pursuing ecosystem approaches to management”.  The conference pointed out the challenges of understanding marine ecosystems as climate change effects such as warming and acidification occur.  Even in long studied systems such as the Sea of Japan we have such a limited understanding of species and ecosystem status that differentiating climate chnage effects can be very difficult.
I managed to attend 41 oral presentations and also delivered a presentation (jointly prepared with Kerrie Wilson and Hedley Grantham) on Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) that was well received… despite being on the last afternoon of the last day of the conference! MSP is a key topic globally and is a specific focus of the current President’s Task Force on Ocean Policy.

Overall, I was very impressed by both the quality of the research presented and the organization of the meeting – PICES have a tremendous secretariat and worked very well with local hosts from KORDI and other local institutions to maximize the synergies between PICES members. I learned a lot about trends in ecosystems dynamics in Alaska and across both sides of the North Pacific. I was especially pleased to be able to spend time with key Alaskan/North Pacific researchers such as Drs David Fluharty (UW), Andrew Trites (UBC), Bill Sydeman (Farallon) and Franz Mueter (UAF). I also appreciated the chance to connect with new colleagues from Europe, China, Korea, Japan and Australia. I was especially impressed with work being done in Norway by Dr Erlend Moksness on approaches to modeling and assessing coastal ecosystem functions – the work is described further at http://www.spicosa.eu/.

I am looking forward to sharing what I learned with NPRB Board members and ASLC Board and SAC members and staff and would be happy to provide further details on any aspect of PICES if anyone wants more information. PICES is clearly a forum ASLC researchers should be more engaged with going forward….

The impressive ICC Conference Center in Jeju - PICES venue

The spectacular coastal basalt cliff scenery in front of the conference venue is also a site for traditional marine resource harvesting by female marine divers. Jeju is very proud of its world heritage listing - coastal volcanic features are a key reason for that designation.

The marine produce harvested locally and quickly made available to passing tourists - not cheap ($25/lunch), but very fresh!

Water Water Everywhere... but do we take it for granted?

This is a view of where my local water comes from - the stunning Lake Eklutna just up behind our house in Chugiak.  Through a combination of snow melt, forest and gravel filtering and only minimal engineering intervention we receive some of the purest water on the planet, all for @$30/month!  A bargain!  I almost feel bad using it to water the garden or wash my car as it seems a waste of an increasingly scarce global resource.

The "ecosystem services" provided by the Eklutna watershed are typical of most such services in that we often take them for granted or (even worse) under value and under appreciate them.  Economists such as Bob Costanza have tried for a long time to estimate those values.  Costanza and his colleagues estimated that all such services are valued at some $33 trillion c.f. $18 trillion for all global GNP - see http://www.uvm.edu/~gundiee/publications/Nature_Paper.pdf.

Those huge umbers can be hard to fathom and are subject to much debate among academics, but the "true value" of the drinking water we enjoy in Alaska really became apparent to me at Gimpo airport in Seoul the other day as I poured a paper cup of enhanced water.  The photo below shows what it takes to replicate the purity of water that the Eklutna watershed provides "for free". 

Think about it next time you fill a glass...

아름다운 Yeosu (beautiful Yeosu): Seward's Sister City in South Korea

I just had the pleasure of spending two days in Yeosu, Seward’s sister city in South Korea. Yeosu is located on the south coast of Korea, about 45 mins flight south of Seoul - see http://www.yeosu.go.kr/en/. My visit coincided with a field trip by the evaluation committee of the Most Beautiful Bays in the World Club (http://www.world-bays.com/) who were evaluating the nomination by Yeosu to join the club.

Yeosu has 900 km of shoreline, 317 islands and is bordered on three sides by the sea so clearly has all the attributes to be Korea’s first designated beautiful bay!

I was joined for the final day of my visit by Dr Clarence Pautzke, Executive Director of the North Pacific Research Board. I was traveling with Dr Pautzke to Jeju for the annual North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES) Conference and so it was convenient to stop by Yeosu en route.

Yeosu was founded in the 6th century and has some magnificent historical sites, including the ancient Hyangiram Buddhist temple and the famed Jinnamgwan Hall (the HQ for a famous naval battle in the 16th century). The natural heritage of Yeosu is equally remarkable – the city covers some 500km2 of which 62% is still under forest (and contains beautiful azalea and camellia forests).

Of special note are the various dinosaur fossil sites such as Sado Island which have now been nominated for World Heritage status.

The city’s economy is dominated by manufacturing – Yeosu is rapidly emerging as an important regional petrochemical center, with some $14b of exports in 2008. Fisheries and agriculture are the other major employers.

Yeosu city international relations and expo staff were gracious and very welcoming hosts. Yeosu became a sister city with Seward in 1996 and they hold that relationship in high regard. My visit followed a visit by Seward Mayor Willard Dunham in May this year. The Mayor of Yeosu, Mr. Oh Hyun-sup has encouraged us to expand cooperation – during my meeting with him on Friday evening, he again reiterated his desire to build stronger links with Alaska generally and with Seward in particular.

The BIG news for Yeosu is that it has been selected by the Bureau of International Expositions to host the 2012 World Expo from May 12th – August 12th. The Expo will be the third largest international event hosted by Korea (after the 1988 Summer Olympics and the 2002 World Cup) and construction is proceeding around the clock to get the site ready – some 8 million visitors are expected! Massive infrastructure works such as a new high speed rail line connecting Yeosu and Seoul are underway. Of particular note is that the Expo has a theme of “Living Ocean and Coast”. The site will feature a range of ambitious marine technologies and projects, including South Korea’s largest aquarium.

I have undertaken to make a presentation to the ASLC staff and the Seward City Council and public on my return and to work with the City and State of Alaska to evaluate options for City and SeaLife Center engagement in the 2012 Expo – please stay tuned as we work through the details and I welcome ideas and inputs on how we can help our Sister City… this could be a very exciting partnership, but… Han-gung-mal yŏn-sŭ-p'ae-ya dwoe-yo!!! (= I will have to practice my Korean)

International Arctic Fisheries Symposium

I spent much of the past 2 days participating in the 2009 International Arctic Fisheries Symposium which is conveniently being held at the Captain Cook hotel just over the road from our Anchorage office.  Its terrific to be able to literally walk across the street and be able to rub shoulders with some of the top scientists, policy makers and indigenous leaders from all Arctic nations.

The conference agenda (http://www.nprb.org/iafs2009/) has been organized to allow systematic discussion of options for future management of the arctic ocean which is facing both unprecedented change and rapidly increasing demands from Arctic coastal states and beyond.  As climate scientists have pointed out, the poles are changing faster than anywhere else on earth.  This may be good news for some fish species who are expanding their range and productivity, but there are many species that are also threatened by these changes, particularly marine mammals and seabirds.  Additionally, with recently observed rapid increases in ocean acidification in the North Pacific, there is a clearly a strong case to be made for precautionary approaches to resource exploitation... but what exactly does that mean?

Options canvassed during the conference so far range from an expansion of the current US Arctic fisheries moratorium (which drew much praise) to a High Seas agreement to cover the areas beyond national EEZs (shown in the photo below - very similar to the Bering Sea donut dilemma that was addressed some years ago) which may be open to fishing in 15+ years when ice cover is lost, to a comprehensive new Artic Treaty (a bit like the Antarctic treaty).  Clearly there is a long way to go in the process and there are extraordinary scientific issues to be resolved and diplomatic/policy challenges ahead... but it was great to part of this new approach early on - it has huge implications for how the Alaska SeaLife Center defines our future role in Artic science, education, conservation and strandings response.

Bering Sea Integrated Research Program

I had the privilege to join the North Pacific Research Board's annual Bering Sea Integrated Ecosystem Research Program (BSIERP) Principal Investigators meeting at the Alyeska resort yesterday on the way home from Seward.  Tara and Kellee had joined the first day - part of the hundred or so participants in this amazing research process.  The BSIERP (see http://bsierp.nprb.org/) is a 5 year (2007-2012) $50 million partnership between NPRB and the National Science Foundation designed to better understand how climate change is affecting the system.

Work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) includes:

• Climate, oceanography, and lower trophic levels
• Social science research

Work supported by the North Pacific Research Board (NPRB) includes

•  Climate, oceanography, and lower trophic levels:
• Forage species: Euphausiids, myctophids, and capelin
• Fish: Arrowtooth flounder, Pacific cod, and walleye pollock
• Marine mammals: Fur seals, walrus, and broad-scale whale distribution
• Seabirds: Thick-billed murres, black-legged kittiwakes, and broad-scale seabird distribution
• Local and traditional knowledge (LTK) 
• Education, outreach, and communication

Work supported by both NSF and NPRB

•  Ecosystem modeling
•  Data management

Obviously with such a diverse and ambitious program coordination is key.  The annual PI meeting is a great oportunity to bring the various key researchers together to both share knowledge and discuss cross-cutting questions. 

I was impressed with the dyamic nature of the conversations I was engaged in - especially the impressive interactions between traditional resource users from Bering sea communities and diverse groups of scientists (who often only have one or two opportunities to visit these areas).  Clearly, as this Nelson Island poster indicates, the rate and nature of change in those areas provides a great basis for a conversation!
I left with a renewed sense of commitment to supporting those scientists and resource users through my work as Chair of the NPRB and high hopes for our own annual science colloquium!

Ocean Acidification Update on Aquariums & CC Site

I just posted this update on the Climate Change and Aquaria common site - http://www.aquariumsandclimate.com/.  This new site is one of the major outcomes of the climate chnage and aquarium summit I attended with Ned Smith last December and will likely become the pre-eminent place for material on CC related to our institution - you have to sign up to be allowed access, but that is a simple matter and well worth the 3 min process!!
Posting...
Ocean Acidification is happening much faster in the North Pacific than we previously realized (http://www.sfos.uaf.edu/news/story/?ni=280). We are now moving faster to address the issue as part of our climate change education and research activities. Two recent activities include:
1. we just screened the new film "A Sea Change" here in partnership with other NGOs in Alaska and I'd highly recommend you contact the producers to host a screening in your institution/community - see http://www.aseachange.net/ - it has a lot of great material to draw from, is a very easy to follow movie and really motivated the community we shared the movie with to be more engaged in this issue!
2. we are planning a session on ocean acidification research, adaptation and comunication on 18th January as part of the Alaska Marine Science Symposium - see http://www.alaskamarinescience.org/ or email me (ian_dutton@alaskasealife.org) for more details.

Georgia (marine laboratories) on my Mind!

A classic Savannah downtown scene - there are 24 'squares' like this in the downtown historic area filled with beautiful gardens.

An edgy poster supporting recycling efforts in the Savannah area!














This week I had the pleasure of attending my first meeting of the National Marine laboratories Association (NAML - http://www.naml.org/) . NAML is the primary professional association for marine laboratories in the United States – the SeaLife center is a long standing member. The other active Alaska member is the Kasitsna bay lab run by NOAA and UAF (http://www.westnurc.uaf.edu/kbay.html).

Skidaways new LEED Gold Laboratories

This meeting was hosted by the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography which is part of the 36 member University of Georgia system and located just outside Savannah Georgia. Interestingly the Institute has a similar funding profile to the ASLC and raises $3 for every $1 of State government support! Skidaway is co-located with numerous marine partners, including the SE COSEE. Established back in the1960s, the Institute also operates the 92 foot research vessel Savannah, part of the UNOLS fleet.

The meeting was an excellent chance to meet with some 40 marine institute directors from across the USA and Europe – there are some exciting proposals to expand global marine collaboration emanating from Europe. Mike Thorndyke from Sweden walked us through an ambitious initiative known as the World Association of Marine Stations (WAMS) which is a process of the European Marine Institutes and Sciences (MARS) Network – see http://www.marsnetwork.org/.

We received a number of useful presentations from each regional chapter of NAML (we are part of the Western Association of Marine labs) as well as updates from partners such as the organization of Biological Field Stations (OBFS – http://www.obfs.org/). We agreed to renew a focus on improving government relations efforts at the federal level in the year ahead. I also made some very helpful personal contacts with our peers that may lead to closer collaboration with some institutions. In classic fashion, I also had the chance to spend time with new UAF Seagrant Director, Dave Christie (pictured shucking oysters – we are working on a plan to bring the 2010 WAML meeting to Alaska!

Enjoying some roasted oysters on the riverbank!

Shucking oysters - a great way to encourage conversation between strangers!

Mossy trees - one of Savannah's enduring images

OK - just one more image of the trees up close!