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The Office of Science And Technology coordinates
agency support for the FAO
Committee on Fisheries (COFI)
 . COFI is a major international forum established
under the FAO Constitution for the regular examination
by Member Nations of the state of world fisheries
and their future prospects and the action which might
be taken individually and collaboratively by developed
and developing nations to promote fisheries development
and management. COFI is advised by its Subcommittee
on Fisheries Trade, its Subcommittee on Aquaculture
and the FAO Advisory Committee on Fisheries Research
(ACFR).
In recent years, FAO has adopted the international
Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and international
plans of action for the Reducing Incidental Catch
of Seabirds in Longline Fishing; for the Conservation
and Management of Sharks; for the Management of Fishing
Capacity; and to Deter, Prevent and Eliminate Illegal,
Unregulated and Unreported Fishing.
Large Marine Ecosystems (LME)
NOAA, in partnership and with support from the Global
Environment Facility (GEF), UN agencies (United Nations
Food and Agricultural Organization, United Nations
Environmental Program, United Nations Development
Program, United Nations Industrial Development Organization,,
United Nations Educational and Scientific Organization
and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission),
the World Bank, and the IUCN-The World Conservation
Union, is assisting numerous countries bordering
several LMEs
to
develop programs for the sustainable, ecosystem-based
management of their marine areas. These comprehensive
programs will provide the information necessary for
these countries to make decisions regarding the status
and management of their marine resources. In some
cases (e.g, the Guinea Current LME and Benguela Current
LME), the countries bordering the LME have made inter-ministerial
commitments to assess and manage their marine areas
from an LME perspective.
Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics (GLOBEC)
The aim of GLOBEC is
to advance understanding of the structure and functioning
of the global ocean ecosystem, its major subsystems,
and its response to physical forcing so that a capability
can be developed to forecast the responses of the
marine ecosystem to global change. GLOBEC has four
primary objectives: (1) to better understand how
multiscale physical environmental processes force
large-scale changes in marine ecosystems; (2) to
determine the relationships between structure and
dynamics in a variety of oceanic systems which typify
significant components of the global ocean ecosystem,
with emphasis on trophodynamic pathways, their variability
and the role of nutrition quality in the food web;
(3) to determine the impacts of global change on
stock dynamics using coupled physical, biological
and chemical models linked to appropriate observation
systems and to develop the capability to predict
future impacts; and (4) to determine how changing
marine ecosystems will affect the global earth system
by identifying and quantifying feedback mechanisms.
Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS)
GOOS is
an internationally coordinated system for systematic
operational data collection (measurements), data
analysis, exchange of data and data products, and
technology development and transfer. The objective
of GOOS is to ensure the establishment of a permanent
system of global and systematic observations adequate
for forecasting climate variability and change; for
assessing the health or the state of the marine environment
and its resources, including the coastal zone; and
for supporting an improved decision-making and management
process, which takes into account potential natural
and man-made changes in the environment and their
effects on human health and marine resources. GOOS
is coordinated by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission (IOC) headquartered in Paris, France.
Four GOOS design panels (Coastal, Living Marine Resources,
Health of the Oceans, and Climate) are in the process
of identifying the observations and resources required
to meet GOOS objectives.
International Oceanographic Commission (IOC)
The Intergovernmental
Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of
UNESCO focuses on promoting marine scientific investigations
and related ocean services, with a view to learning
more about the nature and resources of the oceans.
The IOC focuses on four major themes: (1) develop,
promote and facilitate international oceanographic
research programs to improve understanding of critical
global and regional ocean processes and their relationship
to the sustainable development and stewardship
of ocean resources; (2) ensure effective planning,
establishment and coordination of an operational
global ocean observing system to provide the information
needed for oceanic and atmospheric forecasting,
for oceans and coastal zone management by coastal
nations, and for global environmental change research;
(3) provide international leadership for education
and training program and technical assistance essential
for systematic observations of the global ocean
and its coastal zone and related research; and
(4) ensure that ocean data and information obtained
through research, observation and monitoring are
efficiently handled and made widely available.
The United States is supporting the Ocean Science
in Relation to Living Resources (OSLR) program
of the IOC, which includes support for the Global
Ecosystem Dynamics (GLOBEC) and Small Pelagic Fishes
and Climate Change ( SPACC) programs, Large Marine
Ecosystems (LMEs), Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB),
the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN),
and the Living Marine Resources Module of the Global
Ocean Observing System (LMR GOOS). The (GLOBEC)
Science Plan has been finalized and an implementation
plan is being developed.
United Nations (UN) Atlas of the Oceans Agreement
The UN Oceans
Atlas is
Internet-based, containing information relevant
to sustainable development of the oceans and to
the advancement of ocean science. It is designed
for use by policy makers needing to become familiar
with ocean issues and by scientists and resource
managers needing access to underlying data bases
and approaches to sustainability. The Atlas includes:
(1) background on the oceans--from how they were
formed, to their physiology, biology, and climatology;
(2) uses of the oceans--from food to shipping,
mining, energy, etc.; and (3) ocean issues, such
as sustainability, food security, global change,
and pollution. The project was initially funded
by the UN Foundation. Six UN agencies having mandates
for oceans and coasts (e.g., UNEP, WMO, IOC) have
committed fiscal resources to the project. FAO
conducts the project on behalf of the UN because
of their expertise in building atlases in support
of global decision making and research.
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