Institutions

 

INTER-GOVERNMENTAL

APEC Working Group on Ocean and Fisheries
– This APEC Working Group promotes the conservation and sustainable use of fisheries resources; promotes sustainable development of aquaculture and habitat preservation; seeks solutions to common fisheries resource management problems and aquaculture disease control; enhances food safety and quality of fish and fisheries products; and promotes sector-specific work relating to trade and investment liberalization and facilitation. It also promotes initiatives to protect the marine environment and its resources and ensure continuing socioeconomic benefits through maintenance of marine environmental quality. It has held meetings on red tide, seafood safety standards, ocean modeling, destructive fishing practices, protection of the coral reef environment, land-based sources of pollution, prevention policies for maritime pollution accidents, decommissioning offshore oil and gas platforms, and other topics.

ASEAN Review of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation (ARBEC)
– ARBEC is “Southeast Asia’s only electronic journal of biodiversity and bio-conservation.”

Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC)
– APFIC was established as the Indo-Pacific Fisheries Council in 1948 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The APFIC Secretariat is provided and supported by FAO. It is one of the longest established regional fishery bodies. Its history is  detailed on its website in the document “50 Years of the Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission.”

Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Asian Development Bank is a regional, multilateral development financial institution established in 1966 to promote economic and social development in Asian and Pacific countries through loans and technical assistance. ADB’s vision is of a region free of poverty.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) “Regions and Countries”
Asian Development Bank formulates operational strategies for individual countries and regions, including economic, thematic and sector policy analysis. By undertaking country performance reviews, the ADB provides a basis for policy dialogues with the government of its member developing countries.

Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN)
– APN is the Asia-Pacific inter-governmental network to foster research on long-term global changes in climate, ocean and terrestrial systems, and on related physical, chemical, biological and socio-economic aspects, to increase developing country participation in that research, and to strengthen links between the science community and policy makers. It is the parent organization for the Global Change System for Analysis, Research and Training, and its regional committees, including South Asia START Regional Committee (SASCOM), Southern Asia Regional Committees for START (SARCS), Temporate East Asia Regional Committee for START (TEACOM), and START Oceania.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
– Established in 1947 with its headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, ESCAP is the regional development arm of the United Nations for the Asia-Pacific region. With a membership of 62 Governments, 58 of which are in the region, and a geographical scope that stretches from Turkey in the west to the Pacific island nation of Kiribati in the east, and from the Russian Federation in the north to New Zealand in the south, ESCAP is the most comprehensive of the United Nations five regional commissions. It is also the largest United Nations body serving the Asia-Pacific region with over 600 staff.

Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF)
– A multilateral partnership of six countries formed in 2009 to address the urgent threats facing the coastal and marine resources of one of the most biologically diverse and ecologically rich regions on earth. CTI-CFF is managed through a Secretariat based in Jakarta, Indonesia.

China Fishery Home Page
– General information on China’s fisheries, including Aquaculture,Fish Processing, Marketing, Fishery Economy, Marine Fishery Resources, Marine Programs, Fishing Insurance, Research Institutes, Laws and Regulations, Academic Journals, and Sino-U.S Programs. Also see China Fisheries.

Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
– Established in 1947 with its headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, ESCAP is the regional development arm of the United Nations for the Asia-Pacific region. With a membership of 62 Governments, 58 of which are in the region, and a geographical scope that stretches from Turkey in the west to the Pacific island nation of Kiribati in the east, and from the Russian Federation in the north to New Zealand in the south, ESCAP is the most comprehensive of the United Nations five regional commissions. It is also the largest United Nations body serving the Asia-Pacific region with over 600 staff.

Hainan Research Institute for the South China Sea
– Hainan Research Institute for the South China Sea is an academic institute specializing in the South China Sea. Since its establishment in 1996, the institute has yielded research results in various fields including history and geography of the South China Sea, dominion over Nansha archipelago, ocean demarcation, environmental protection and peripheral relation of the South China Sea.

IMB Piracy Reporting Centre
– Established in 1992, as the Piracy Reporting Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Its job is to record and detail specific attacks and their consequences, investigate incidents of piracy and armed robbery at sea and in port. Another role entails raise awareness of piracy hotspots, and working with national governments on a range of initiatives to reduce and ultimately eradicate attacks against ships. The site provides a 24-hour anti-piracy help line and weekly reports on piracy incidents and armed robbery at sea. IMB also helps to locate seized vessels, recover stolen cargoes, assist law enforcement, and help owners and crews of attacked ships. The 24-hour Anti Piracy HELPLINE number is +60 3 2031 0014.

Maritime Institute of Malaysia (MIMA)
– MIMA is a policy research institute set up by the Malaysian Government in 1993 to look into matters relating to Malaysia’s interest at sea, and to serve as a national focal point for research on national, regional, and international maritime issues

Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA)
– NACA began in 1980 as an UNDP/FAO regional project aimed at expanding aquaculture development through regional technical cooperation. 14 Asian governments support joint efforts to develop aquaculture to increase food production, improve rural income and employment, diversify farm production, and increase foreign exchange earning and savings. NACA conducts interdisciplinary research on selected farming systems in participating aquaculture centres; trains core personal for national aquaculture development; and operates a regional information system for development planning research and training.

PEMSEA-Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia
PEMSEA is a joint program between twelve East Asian nations, formed to protect life support systems and enable the sustainable use and management of coastal and marine resources through intergovernmental, interagency, and multisectoral partnerships.

Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP)
– The first regional government-to-government agreement to promote and enhance cooperation against piracy and armed robbery in Asia. To date, 17 States have become Contracting Parties to ReCAAP.


NON-GOVERNMENTAL

Advanced Institute for Monsoon Asia
– In January 2008, twenty early-career meteorologists from across the Asia-Pacific region and North America met at the East-West Center in Hawaii for a series of lectures on the Asian monsoon and to explore possibilities for research collaboration. Topics included the fundamental physics of monsoons, the variability and predictability of the Asian-Australian monsoon system, advances in satellite observations, and numerical modeling of monsoons.

Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law (APCEL)
– Established in 1996 by the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore, APCEL works with the World Conservation Union (IUCN)and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to serve as a regional training centre for the teaching of environmental law, to organise conferences, seminars and other programmes on environmental issues, to serve as a regional centre for research, including multi-disciplinary research on international, regional and national environmental law and policy, to establish and develop a collection of materials on environment law and policy, and to maintain an electronic database, and to publish and promote the exchange of information on international, regional and national environmental law and policy;

Ex Anambas & The Biodiversity of the South China Sea
– An initiative of the Workshop on Managing Potential Conflicts in the South China Sea, this site includes the reports of the multilateral Technical Working Groups on Marine Scientific Research and on Biodiversity. They were published in The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, Supplement Series, No. 8, Biodiversity of the South China Sea, 31 Mar 2000, and No. 11, Scientific Results of the Anambas Expedition 2002, 22 Mar 2004.

Institute for International Policy Studies
– Conference and workshop papers on Maritime Security in the South China Sea, Southeast Asia and Southwest Asia from a non-profit, independent research institute based in Tokyo.

Maritime.com
– Marine industry megasite with searchable database.

Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Maritime Conflict in Asia
– PRIO project on how disputes concerning ownership to islands (notably the Spratlys and the Paracels), and conflicts over maritime resources (fish, oil, minerals), and measures to protect sea-lanes against terrorists and pirates affect regional security in South, Southeast and Northeast Asia.

Reefbase.org
– ReefBase is the world’s premier online information system on coral reefs, and provides information services to coral reef professionals involved in management, research, monitoring, conservation and education. Our goal is to facilitate sustainable management of coral reefs and related coastal/marine environments, in order to benefit poor people in developing countries whose livelihoods depend on these natural resources.

The South China Sea Informal Working Group
– This site documents a series of workshops held in Indonesia on “Managing Potential Conflicts in the South China Sea.” These non-governmental gatherings, attended by government and military officials in their private capacities as well as by academics from the region and Canada explored ways to engender cooperation among the nations bordering on the South China Sea, including environmental and resource management issues.

Southeast Asia Regional Center for START (SARCS)
– One of the eight regions of the Global Change SysTem for Analysis, Research and Training (START) network, jointly initiated by the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), International Human Dimension Programme (IHDP), and World Climate Research Programme (WCRP). It seeks to establish and foster regional networks of collaborating scientists and institutions to conduct research on regional aspects of environmental change, assess impacts and vulnerabilities to such changes, and provide information to policy-makers.

WorldFish Centre
– An international scientific research organization to reduce poverty and hunger by improving fisheries and aquaculture. Key objectives: 1. To improve the livelihoods of those who are especially poor and vulnerable in places where fisheries and aquaculture can make a difference, 2. To achieve large scale, environmentally sustainable increases in supply and access to fish, at affordable prices, for poor consumers in developing countries.