|
ARCHIVED News - Institute of Marine Resources |
A two-day workshop was held on 9-10th of June, 2010 at the Marine Studies Centre at USP and it came at an opportune time as it coincides with 2010 being the Year of Biodiversity. The workshop was facilitated by the Institute of Marine Studies and PACE-SD and with kind support from the Asia Pacific Network (APN) for Global Change Research.
The "Global Change and Coral Reef Management Capacity in the South Pacific" workshop aims to engage scientists and policy makers in Fiji, Samoa, Tuvalu and Tonga so that policy makers can be apprised of the impacts of global change and of those factors that are affecting the health of our coral reefs, using the most recent information available.
This will assist Pacific Island countries in translating recent information into policies that leads to sustainable management of coastal ecosystems; an integrated approach will be taken, bearing in mind the inter-dependence of the various coastal habitats associated with coral reefs (land-use, mangroves, and sea grass beds).
In partnership with Flinders University (http://www.flinders.edu.au/science_engineering/biology), the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) began an environmental characterization of both Moon Reef and nearby Horseshoe Reef (which was chosen for comparison purposes) last year. Using a CTD (Conductivity, temperature and depth) sensor the team were able to get measurement profiles (taken every ½ metre from the surface to the seafloor) of temperature, chlorophyll-a, turbidity and salinity both inside and outside of each reef. After finding some initial differences, the team decided to repeat these surveys last month but this time using a sampling scheme on a much finer scale. In addition, the team organized for staff from the Institute of Marine Resources to undertake some biological diversity surveys on fish, invertebrates, and coral species in the two reefs.
A workshop on "Coral Reef Monitoring – Data analyses: responding to Climate Change" was held from the 12-16th April, 2010 at the Marine Studies Centre at Lower Campus, USP. The 1-week training program was designed for Pacific country coordinators of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) South West Pacific and Polynesian Mana nodes. Funds were provided by the Regional Environment Office of the American Embassy in Suva, Fiji under the Pacific Island Fund for Small Development Grants and facilitated by the Institute of Marine Resources.
The objectives of the workshop were to: Introduce basic statistical methods to the participants to allow for scientific interpretation of monitoring data, introduce climate change resilience factors to incorporate into coral reef monitoring program and facilitate the process of applying analyzed data to fisheries management programs.
For more information on the Training or a copy of the Workshop Report, please contact: Ms Cherie Morris (morris_c(at)usp.ac.fj) or Ms Shirlene Bala (bala_s(at)usp.ac.fj).
The Institute of Marine Resources (IMR) has been co-ordinating a three week summer course on Tropical Marine Ecosystems for Macquarie University students since 2003. In 2010, the course was held from Monday, January 25th - Thursday, February 11th and IMR played host to 15 students, accompanied by their Senior lecturers, from Macquarie University.
Field trips enabled students to snorkel and observe the diversity of corals and reef organisms on three different reefs; study features of a coral cay (Makaluva Island); stay overnight in a traditional Fijian village on the Coral Coast; see Fiji's largest freshwater prawn farm at Navua; and get hands-on experience in seagrass, mangrove, and terrestrial coastal plants species identification.
(Read more)
Valentine's Day this year witnessed a major run of Glass Eels (Anguilla sp.) in the Navua River, Fiji. Judy Tilbury, who resides close to the mouth of the Navua River witnessed a river of glass eels migrating up the river early in the morning on February 14th, and this was followed by a second, possibly larger run two days later. What are glass eels, and what brings about this remarkable phenomenon of nature?
One of the commonest red crusts found on coral rubble in the Suva Lagoon has defied identification until now, until it was recently described as Mastophora multistrata, by Professor Derek W. Keats, of the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. The species was described in Phycologia, the Journal of the International Phycological Society, Vol. 48 (5): pp 404-422.
Prof Keats, one of the very few international experts on crustose coralline algae, visited Fiji in 1994 as an International Ocean Institute Scholar. During his visit he made extensive collections of algae from the Suva Lagoon and Barrier Reef, and taught a course on crustose coralline algae. A number of new species have resulted from Derek�s collections, and it is anticipated that more are awaiting description. Isotypes of the new species are to be found in the Phycological Herbarium of the Marine Collections Facility, Division of Marine Studies.
Professor G. Robin South (IMR) was among some 300 invited delegates who attended the GEF IW5 meeting in Cairns, comprising GEF Project Managers, Members of the GEF Secretariat, Government Representatives, GEF Technical Advisors, and Donor organisations (World Bank, United Nations Environment Programme, Asian Development Bank, and the United Nations Development Programme). The meetings proved to be a unique opportunity for experience sharing among government representatives, project leaders and managers, the GEF Secretariat and donors.
(Read more)
COREMO is a database that has been developed to handle raw coral reef monitoring data (fish census, invertebrate and substrate) data. It has been developed by an organization called ARVAM in Reunion. It is designed to be fairly flexible, and while designed around certain popular monitoring protocols, it can handle some variations of methods that fall within these protocols.
The Pacific COREMO database training was held at the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme facility in Apia, Samoa from 9-11 September 2009. Funds for this training were secured from NOAA through the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN). Countries from two Pacific GCRMN Nodes, the South West Pacific and Polynesian Mana, were represented and included Palau, Fiji, New Caledonia, French Polynesia and Samoa. Although majority of the participants were GCRMN representatives, there were representatives from partner organizations such as the Coral Reef Initiative for the Pacific (CRISP) and the World Fish Center (WFC) who assisted in either funding or reviewing the database.
The World Resources Institute (WRI), in collaboration with the International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN), the University of the South Pacific Institute of Marine Resources, and the Coral Reef Initiative for the South Pacific (CRISP), hosted a three-day workshop on the Reefs at Risk Revisited Project on March 16-18, 2009. The workshop brought together 32 experts from 20 local and regional organizations in the Pacific, including government agencies, non-governmental organizations, regional organizations, universities, trade associations, and consulting companies.
While Reefs at Risk is a global project, the Suva workshop was the first to include a focus on the Pacific region, which was not captured in any of the other publications. The Suva discussions centered on various indicators to be used in the modeling process: Coastal Development; Land-based pollution; Marine-based pollution; Overfishing and destructive fishing; Marine managed areas; Social vulnerability analysis; and Climate-related trends. The social vulnerability analysis and climate-related trends represent new areas to be included in the modeling.
Students from the University of Wisconsin-Plattville in the United States will have hands on experience pertaining to the Tropical Marine Environment at the University of the South Pacific. The course UWPFJ - BIOL/GEOG 2250 Tropical Marine Ecosystems will run from 30th June - 18th July 2008 and will be an exciting experience. This course is coordinated by the Institute of Marine Resources (IMR), Division of Marine Studies (SMS), Faculty of Science, Technology and Environment (FIO), USP. New scholarships established at USP for agriculture, forestry, fisheries & agricultural economics For the first time ever up to eight new post-graduate level scholarships each year are now available through the Faculty of Islands and Oceans (FIO) at the University of the South Pacific (USP), funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). ACIAR officials Mr Les Baxter and Dr Jacqui Wright visited USP's Laucala Campus recently to meet with the first intake of post-graduate scholars and their supervising USP academic staff. This is an unusual scholarship limited to people who can be attached to one of ACIAR's collaborative research projects in the Pacific, and it aims to increase the research capacity in agriculture and fisheries within our Pacific partner countries, Mr Baxter said. Book on the Status of Coral reefs in the Pacific launched at USP The health of coral reefs in the Southwest Pacific is the subject of a new book which was launched at the University of the South Pacific this week. Status of Coral Reefs in the South-West Pacific: 2004, which has been edited by Reuben Sulu, brings together reports from Fiji, Nauru, New Caledonia, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu, prepared under the auspices of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN). It was published by the Institute of Pacific Studies Publications at USP in collaboration with the University's Institute of Marine Resources. USP to assist in the operation of a commercial prawn farm in Fiji The University of the South Pacific has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Dairy Farms Fiji (DFF) to help develop a commercial prawn farm at its site in Navua, Fiji. Dairy Farms Fiji is part of the New Zealand Company which has taken over management of the former Fiji Government owned Viti Corp Farm in Navua. As part of the MOU, USP through its Institute of Marine Resources (IMR) will manage the first six month Phase 1 through technical support; training of the future farm manager and supplying the prawn post larvae from the Marine Studies Aquaculture prawn hatchery. Subsequently in Phase 2, DFF will take over management while USP will continue to supply prawn post larvae and offer consulting advice. US Ambassador gives FJD $20, 000 to Institute The United States Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service today awarded a grant of FJD$20,000 to the Institute of Marine Resources (IMR) of the University of the South Pacific (USP), Laucala Campus, Suva. The grant is specifically for the Community-based marine turtle conservation project carried out by IMR. United Sates Ambassador, Mr Lary Dinger presented the grant to USP's and IMR Director, Dr Kenneth MacKay and USP Vice Chancellor Professor Anthony Tarr. Ambassador Dinger noted that the grant coincides with the 2006 Pacific Year of the Sea Turtle. Thus, it is appropriate during this the Pacific Year of the Sea Turtle that the US through the newly enacted US Marine Turtle Conservation Act is able to support USP in conserving these highly endangered species in the Pacific Islands. Largest single harvest of freshwater prawns in Fijian history A joint collaboration between the University of the South Pacific (USP) and Dairy Farms Fiji Ltd has resulted in the first major prawn harvest of commercial quantity from the DFF Aquaculture (DFFA) freshwater prawn farm at Navua, Fiji recently. The yield of prawns exceeded any previous single harvest of freshwater prawns in Fiji. Fiji's Minister of Public Enterprises Hon. Mr Jonetani Galuinadi, and Public Enterprises Chief Executive Officer Mr Parmesh Chand, visited the farm during the harvest and witnessed the success of the project. Dairy Farms Fiji Ltd. and the Institute of Marine Resources (IMR), joined forces to use the technical expertise of USP, and the resources and property of DFF (leased from Fiji Ministry of Public Enterprises) to commercially produce high quality freshwater Prawns. |
