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The Institute’s research
and training drives are governed by national policy priorities as well
as the Institute's obligation to contribute to scientific knowledge.
Thus existing policies have to be revisited to identify areas where
Institute’s mandate is relevant. These included Research Priority
Areas drawn by the (COSTECH – www.costech.or.tz)
and some sector policies including the National Environmental Policy,
National Fisheries Sector Policy and Strategy Statement, National Higher
Education Policy, etc. Presently, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission (IOC) of UNESCO urges governments worldwide to place the
protection and conservation of the ocean and its resources at a high
level of priority within their national programmes, and cooperate in
national efforts to resolve ocean issues of mutual concern. With this
view, the Institute has set the following research and training priority
themes:
1. CLIMATE
VARIABILITY, CHANGE AND IMPACTS
This is a theme that is prominent in the Coastal Global Ocean Observation
System Implementation Plan of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission
(IOC) and so, by implication, is a key issue for the Institute’s
direction in science. There are several areas where climate variability
and climate change impacts are issues for the Open Ocean and coastal
marine environment. Therefore, there is a need for a more strategic
approach where marine impact issues can be seen in the whole. In this
respect, the Institute shall provide a focal point for networking and
coordination of research on marine impacts from climate, climate variability
and climate change. In so doing the Institute shall integrate a range
of issues and create a research and training programmes in areas such
as sea level rise, coral bleaching, calcification, acidity, changes
in ecosystems, etc; and link them to natural marine hazards.
2.
SCIENCE FOR INTEGRATED COASTAL AREA MANAGEMENT
With its mandate, the Institute is in a unique position to lead and
coordinate coastal ocean science and link it to coastal area management.
This theme will create many opportunities for synergy with existing
Open Ocean and physical ocean initiatives. In this respect, the Institute
will provide a focal point for networking and coordinating all aspects
of coastal ocean research. Under this theme, the Institute shall undertake
research and provide training in Coastal Ocean prediction and predictability,
support and underpin the development and evolution of the coastal ocean
observing system (a cross-cutting theme).
3.
REMOTE SENSING
The justification
for observing the ocean from space lies in the need to integrate the
products obtained in the various models aimed at improving forecasts
on a worldwide scale. Continuous ocean observation from space is thus
an essential component in global meteorological forecasting programmes.
This is because long-term climate monitoring, medium-term seasonal analyses
and the search for solutions to short-term daily problems cannot be
undertaken without the help of satellite images.
Furthermore, any programme aimed at obtaining a continuous forecast
of future sea conditions, the most accurate possible real-time description
of the current state of the sea and an archive of long-term climate
data making it possible to describe the past state of the sea cannot
today be implemented without the help of remote sensing.
Remote sensing is an essential tool in marine and coastal environment
management from the standpoint of sustainability.
4.
CENSUS OF MARINE LIFE
The main goal of this programme should be to study the spatial-temporal
dynamics of biodiversity, distribution and abundance of marine biota.
This initiative is supposed to be a fundamental point for conservation
and sustainable use of the marine living resources. Specific objectives
of this programme are:
5. MARICULTURE
There is an increasing demand for protein in the coastal areas as a
result of increasing human population, coastal urbanisation, coastal
tourism and general demand for seafood. Habitation and degradation of
the terrestrial environment through deforestation, overgrazing and pollution
is also reducing the size of the terrestrial productive land. The increasing
coastal population, lack of facilities for deep sea fisheries and increasing
demand for seafood is creating pressure on the marine environment through
increase in catch per unit effort has lead to decreasing resources implied
by decreasing catch per unit effort and decrease in the average size
of the catch. Already the fisheries in Tanzania is said to be at the
maximum and some areas are over-fished. The Institute has, therefore,
embarked actively on mariculture research, development and extension
education for seaweed, shellfish and finfish. While some of the studies
are still at experimental stages, others are at pilot and production
stages.
6. MODELLING,
GIS AND MARINE GEOINFORMATICS
The purpose of establishing
a modelling subsystem is to assimilate data generated from the measurement
network (in situ and remotely sensed observations) to (1) produce more
accurate estimates of the variables, their distributions, and associated
errors; (2) develop, test and validate models, and (3) initialise and
update models for improved predictions. Model outputs includes comprehensive
and integrated spatial representations of past (hind-casts), present
(now casts) and future (forecasts) states of the coastal ocean.
Achieving these capabilities, or improving them, should begin by engaging
user groups to define data and information needs (products and services)
and developing and updating inventories of modelling capabilities and
activities that satisfy these needs. This will provide the basis for
selecting, developing and/or improving models through community-based
modelling networks.
With computer modeling systems shoreline changes in terms of areas and
times are to be undertaken, thus improving the knowledge on susceptibility
of shorelines change. The transport of pollutants,
e.g. oil spills, contaminant outfalls, harmful algae, blooms, etc will
be able to be predicted and tracked, enabling clean-ups and preventive
measures to be effectively carried out and key habitats
protected. Tourism is very sensitive to the above factors
and the ability to predict these threats will allow for protecting the
tourism areas. Living marine resources are impacted
by the ocean transfer of eggs and larvae and pollution can disrupt these
resources. The long-term understanding of the ocean that numerical modeling
gives, will improve the information needed to achieve sustainability.
These predictions will mitigate the negative socio-economic impacts
of these stressors and thus address poverty conditions.
Distribution of fish is dependent on ocean conditions and predictions
will assist fisheries and food security and fishing tourism].
IMS should therefore
encourage crosscutting activities and interdisciplinary approaches to
address ecosystem issues and to increase predictive abilities. Modeling
should enhance the ability to integrate Climatic change scenarios into
ecosystems. Biogeochemical models mainly see the upper part of the food
web, but lower part of food web only in terms of mortality, while fish
stock models see the lower part of the food in terms of prescribed zooplankton
biomass. After the great success of coupling physical and biogeochemical/ecosystem
models, we could encourage attempts to bridge the gap between fisheries
models and biogeochemical models. Modeling requires data, but models
can help to optimize observations. IMS should catalyze courses on modeling
to help with education in modeling and data management.
- To identify
the dynamics of diversity, distribution and abundance of fisheries
and particular marine biota, with emphasis on economically, ecologically
and tourism important species.
- To map all shallow
water ecosystems in Tanzania such as mangroves, seagrass beds, coral
reefs; their distribution and abundance of their associated biota
- To study hydrographic
and oceanographic characteristics, water quality, and the spatial-temporal
dynamics of socio-economics and demographic characteristics of coastal
communities
7. COASTAL
MODULE OF THE GLOBAL OCEAN OBSERVATION SYSTEM
Coastal nations worldwide
are experiencing changes in their coastal marine and estuarine systems
that jeopardise sustainable development, human health and safety, and
the capacity of marine ecosystems to support products and services valued
by society. Changes of concern include increase in the susceptibility
of coastal populations to flooding, tsunamis, erosion and disease, habitat
loss, declines in living resources, harmful algal blooms and mass mortalities
of marine mammals and birds. Such trends reflect the combined effects
of both natural processes and human uses.
Because these changes,
their causes and their effects often transcend national boarders, numerous
international treaties and conventions have been agreed. To that require
sustained, routine and reliable observations of oceanic coastal, terrestrial
and atmospheric systems on local, regional and global scales. Implementation
of the coastal module of the Global Ocean Observation System (GOOS)
will provide the required data and information on coastal marine and
estuarine systems nationwide. The coastal module of GOOS is intended
to develop an integrated and holistic approach to addressing six goals
for the public good:
- Improve the capacity
to detect and predict the effects of global climate change on coastal
ecosystems;
- Improve the
safety and efficiency of marine operations;
- Control and mitigate
the effects of natural hazards more efficiently
- Reduce public
health risks;
- Protect and restore
healthy ecosystems more effectively; and
- Restore and sustain
living marine resources more effectively.
Routine, continuous
provision of reliable data and information required to address these
goals will make possible rapid and repeated assessments of the condition
of coastal marine and estuarine ecosystems; timely predictions of
the effect of extreme weather, climate change and human activities;
and the development of ecosystem-based approaches to managing and
mitigating the effects of human activities and natural variability
on socio-economic systems that underpin the health and well-being
of human populations.
This strategy calls for the establishment of a national coastal ocean
observing systems. The development of the national observing system
is needed to create a national coastal network that (i) measures,
manages and analyses common variables needed by all or most coastal
nations and regions; (ii) establishes sentinel and reference stations;
and (iii) implements internationally accepted standards and protocols
for measurements, data telemetry, data management and modelling The
provisional common variables include geographical variables (temperature,
salinity, currents, waves, sea level, shoreline position, bathymetry,
sediment grain size), chemical variables (dissolved inorganic nutrients,
dissolved oxygen, sediment organic content), biological variables,
(faecal indicators, phytoplankton biomass, benthic biomass), and biophysical
variables (optical properties).
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