Related document list Final Proceeding (PDF) - including participant list, programme, abstracts Logistic Info Presentation Files Presenter File
The first Yellow Sea Regional Science Conference will present the current scientific knowledge of the Yellow Sea, and discuss how this information can be used to promote better management to ensure the maintenance of the ecosystem carrying capacity and its ability to provide services that support the huge coastal population.
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First Yellow Sea Regional Science Conference
Hangzhou, China 14th to 16th August 2007
First Announcement
CONFERENCE TOPICS
Interested persons may submit abstracts for talks on pollution, fisheries, biodiversity, ecosystem structure and function, environmental economics, and management-related issues under the following topics:
· Provisioning Services · Supporting & Regulating Services · Cultural Services · Good management practices
ORGANISING COMMITTEE
Co-Chairpersons Dr. Sinjae Yoo – KORDI, Republic of Korea Mr. Yihang Jiang – YSLME Project
Members Ms. Connie Chiang – YSLME Project Dr. Xianshi Jin – YSFRI, China Dr. Young-Shil Kang – WSFRI, Republic of Korea Mr. Randall Purcell – UNDP/GEF Dr. Quan Wen – NMEMC, China Mr. Xiaodong Zhong – NOWPAP RCU Dr. Mingyuan Zhu – FIO, China Mr. Wenxi Zhu – IOC/WESTPAC
Sponsors
UNDP(United Nations Development Programme), |
Among the 64 large marine ecosystems (LMEs) in the world oceans, the Yellow
Sea LME has been one of the most significantly affected by human development.
Today the Yellow Sea faces serious environmental problems, many of a
transboundary nature, that arise from anthropogenic causes.
Approximately ten percent of the world’s population lives in the basin that
drains into the Yellow Sea. Large cities near the sea with tens of millions of
inhabitants include Qingdao, Tianjin, Dalian, Shanghai, Seoul/Inchon, and
Pyongyang-Nampo. The Yellow Sea provides important socio-economic services --
provisioning, supporting/regulating, and cultural services – for the people of
these large urban areas. Provisioning services include fishery and mariculture
production, genetic resources, sand and mineral extraction amongst others. The
Yellow Sea is one of the most intensively exploited areas in the world. The
number of commercially harvested species is about 100 including cephalopods and
crustacea. Demersal species used to account for 65 to 90 percent of annual total
catch. However, when fishing effort increased threefold from the early 1960s to
the early 1980s, the biomass of demersal species such as small yellow croaker,
hairtail, large yellow croaker, flatfish, and cod declined by more than 40
percent. Mariculture in Yellow Sea accounts for 10 percent of the world’s
production. Supporting/Regulating services include primary production, climate
regulation, carbon and nutrient cycling. The Yellow Sea also provides Cultural
services such as recreation, tourism and educational opportunities.
The Yellow Sea LME is an important global resource. This international waterbody
supports substantial populations of fish, invertebrates, marine mammals, and
seabirds. Many of these resources and other services are threatened by both land
and sea-based sources of pollution and loss of biomass, biodiversity, and
habitat resulting from extensive economic development in the coastal zone, and
by the unsustainable exploitation of natural resources.
The three littoral countries, with their massive populations living in the
Yellow Sea drainage basin, share common problems of pollution abatement and
control of municipal and industrial sites in the Yellow Sea basin, as well as
reducing contributions from non-point source contaminants resulting from
agricultural practices. All of the littoral countries are urgently seeking to
address problems of reduced fish catch and shifts in species biomass and
biodiversity (caused in part by overfishing), red tide outbreaks, degradation of
coastal habitats (caused by explosive coastal development and pollution), and
effects of climate variability on the Yellow Sea Large Marine Ecosystem.
The First Yellow Sea Regional Science Conference will display the current
scientific knowledge of the Yellow Sea, and discuss how the knowledge can be
used for better management to ensure that the ecosystem continues to provide
services to maintain its carrying capacity.
