IOC/WESTPAC-HAB symposium and the 2nd IOC/WESTPAC-TMO–HAB training course at Institute of Oceanography in Nha Trang
The symposium drew the participation of 14 representatives from Japan, China, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Russia. This was an activity in the framework of the project to research the blossom of toxic seaweed of IOC/WESTPAC (IOC/WESTPAC-HAB) headed by Prof. Yasuwo Fukuyo, the Natural Environment Science Centre under Japan’s Tokyo University. Prof. Yasuwo Fukuyo has been the head of the project over the past 20 years (since 1993) and has made great contributions to the project. At the symposium, scientist reviewed activities of the project over the past time, prepared documents for the coming publication, chose Assoc.Prof. Dr. Mitsunori Iwataki from Japan’s Yamagat University to be the new head of the project, and discussed research trends in the future. One of the important achievements of the project is to publicize many references for research, supervision and management of the blossom of toxic seaweed in the region, and to train more young scientists for research and management in toxic seaweed in countries in the IOC/WESTPAC region.
From March 19th to 22nd 2012, the training course is a common activity of the two projects, including IOC/WESTPAC-HAB and IOC/WESTPAC-TMO, conducting research about harmful marine creatures and their toxin. The event drew the participation of 15 lecturers and learners from Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, China, Singapore, Thailand and Russia. During the training course, participants heard about immunologic methods to discover toxins in marine creatures in order to improve the capacity of dealing with this problem; consolidated the network of information exchange; and promoted cooperation in researching harmful marine creatures and the blossom of toxic seaweed in the region. Based on four theoretical lectures, participants did practical exercises by using ELISA method to discover toxins in plankton and shellfish.
The successful symposium and training course helped to improve the professional ability of young scientists and promote cooperation in research on the blossom of toxic seaweed and harmful marine creatures for IOC/WESTPAC members, including Vietnam.
Translated by Tuyet Nhung
