From:	Pepe, Richard (FIES)
Sent:	28 July 2008 16:56
To:	ASFA-Board-L
Subject:	 WHY is YOUR ASFA work is so important? BECAUSE the information and data contained in the aquatic science literature can be used to understand better and to address some of today's key political, social and environmental challenges
Dear ASFA Partner and Collaborating Centers, 

The FAO ASFA Secretariat, consider your contribution of bibliographic references to the ASFA database as important work. Because there is no doubt that some of the references that you have created will point decision makers, scientists, technologist, teachers, students etc. to publications containing physical, biological, or geological information and data on the aquatic environment that are useful, if not vital, to addressing some of today's major political, social and environmental challenges. 

Therefore, from time to time, the FAO ASFA Secretariat, would like to gratefully acknowledge:
1) the Institutes, Organization and their funding bodies for their participation in and support of the ASFA International, Cooperative, Information System, and
2) the staff in these Institutes, who dedicate their time and effort (often outside of working hours) in preparing the ASFA references.

Listed below are just a few of the many issues/challenges* facing the World today, which either directly involve or indirectly relate to the "aquatic environment". The issues/challenges directly related to the aquatic environment are those, as we say in ASFA jargon, which "easily fall within the subject scope of ASFA". They could include among others: overfishing, aquatic pollution, invasive aquatic species, Law-of-the-Sea claims and disputes etc.. The issues/challenges indirectly or partially related to the aquatic environment could include for example: "Eradicating hunger and poverty" and "Climate Change" .

The decision makers, managers, research scientists, technologists and even the general public, who must deal with and understand today's challenging issues will require (among other things) timely, comprehensive, relevant and accurate information and data. Therefore, it is probable that one of the sources of intermediary information which they might/will consult will be the: ASFA bibliographic database (i.e. the records that YOU produced and that YOU submitted to the ASFA database. 

THEREFORE, again thank you again for your efforts, and we hope that you will continue and/or increase the good and important work you are doing.

If you are not yet contributing records to ASFA or you realize that you are not contributing up to your capacity, please let us know your difficulties. Perhaps, we can assist.

(List of a few issues/challenges* which either directly involve or indirectly relate to the "aquatic environment")

1. ERADICATING EXTREME POVERTY AND HUNGER - The aquatic environment represents a renewable source of food, income and employment - when fished and/or farmed in a sustainable manner.  

ASFA:  
More than 30% of the records in the ASFA database deal with fisheries and aquaculture (i.e. this rough percentage is arrived at by just searching specifically for the records assigned by the ASFA inputters to one of the fisheries or aquaculture subject categories). The search will yield more records if other ASFA subject categories, outside but related to the fisheries categories, are included in the search.  

2. CLIMATE CHANGE -  there is a no-longer deniable increase in greenhouse gases and global temperature since the pre-industrial period. In the coming decades, scientists anticipate that as atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases continue to rise, average global temperatures and sea levels will continue to rise as a result - and precipitation patterns will change.

ASFA:
More than 9000 records and 2000 web sites are retrieved from the ASFA database by a simple, broad-scale search on the terms ( "climate change" or "global warming" ). However, one should realize that many more records in the ASFA database are probably directly or indirectly relevant to this search as the oceanography, meteorology and geology sections of the ASFA database collectively contain over 300 000 records (i.e.approx 33% of the entire ASFA database) 

3.REDUCING POLLUTION FROM LAND BASED SOURCES  -   Regarding the 9 key pollution indicators or UNEP “Pollution Source categories” as they are called, while a few categories appear to be improving or improving in some ways (e.g. Radioactive substances, Oils (hydrocarbons), Heavy metals, Persistent organic pollutants) others are worsening (Sewage, Nutrients, Sediment mobilization, Marine litter, Physical alteration and destruction of habitats)  

ASFA:
From ten to fifteen percent (100 000 - 150 000) of the records contained in the ASFA database, deal directly with some aspect of pollution (i.e. this rough percentage is arrived at by searching specifically for the records assigned by the ASFA inputters to the pollution subject categories). In searching for information on a particular pollutant, one would, of course, also include the name of the pollutant in the search strategy.

3. REDUCING/ELIMINATING OVERFISHING  - FAO statistics indicate that approximately 75 percent of marine capture fisheries are either overfished or depleted (25%) or fished at their maximum capacity (50%).  The remaining 25% is underexploited or moderately exploited. (http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/A0699e/A0699e00.htm) 

ASFA:
More than 6000 records and 270 web sites are retrieved from the ASFA database by a direct search in the "descriptor field for DE=("overexploitation" or "depleted stocks" or "species extinction" or "overfishing"). In searching for information on a particular species, one would, of course, also include or just use the Latin scientific name of the particular species in the search strategy. 

4. CONTROLLING INVASIVE SPECIES - 20 of the Worlds worst 100 invasive alien species are aquatic species (8 fish, 9 invertebrates and 3 amphibians) according to the IUCN publication “100 of the World’s Worst Invasive Alien Species” 

ASFA:
Approximately 10 000 records and 1600 web sites are retrieved from the ASFA database with a free-text search for ("introduced species" or "invasive species” or "alien species"  ). In searching for information on a particular invasive species, one would, of course, also include or just use the Latin name of that particular species in the search strategy. 

5. CLAIMS TO THE ARTIC POLAR SEABED -  The deadline is approaching for Countries wanting to extend their Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) beyond 200 miles (i.e. Countries that have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) have until 13 May 2009 to present scientific evidence that the continental shelf beyond their 200 mile EEZ belongs to their territory)
 
ASFA: 
Specific searches for: 
("continental shelf" or EEZ or "May 13" or "13 May") and UNCLOS retrieves a few hundred records 
( "continental shelf" or Arctic and UNCLOS )retrieves approx 100 records 
("continental shelf" and Arctic) retrieves approx 700 records 

However, there are many more potentially useful records contained in the ASFA database,  a general search for all records contained in the geology, geophysics and legislation sections of ASFA retrieves 80,000 records. Some of these records would also be relevant to the issue at hand, through a further refinement of the search strategy.   

..............................................

*( Note: the author of this e-mail is the sole responsible for compiling, commenting and referencing the above list of issues/challenges related to the aquatic environment and ASFA. It is not intended to be cited. The intention was not to compile an exact or exhaustive list covering all of the possible issues relating to the aquatic environment and possibly referred to in ASFA (perhaps one of the ASFA partners would like to attempt such an endeavor?) nor was it the intention to rank the items in any particular order of importance. In addition, as regards the search strategies cited, it is recognized that different and/or more expert ASFA searchers will search such the issues differently) 

Regards, 
Richard Pepe 
Fishery Information Officer (Editor-in-Chief ASFA) 
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Fisheries and Aquaculture Department
Fisheries and Aquaculture Economics and Policy Division (FIE)
Fisheries and Aquaculture Information and Statistics Service (FIES)
Via delle Terme di Caracalla
00153, Rome, Italy
 
Telephone:    +(39) 0657051 (operator) Telephone: +(39)  06570 56380(direct) 
Fax number:  +(39) 06570 52476 
E-mail:   richard.pepe@fao.org 
(FAO) http://www.fao.org / (Fisheries Department) http://www.fao.org/fi 
Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA) http://www.fao.org/fi/asfa/asfa.asp