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Summary of Professor Zhu's presentation on red tide in China

I would like to thank those who came to hear Professor Zhu speak on January 11th. We appreciate him taking time out of his trip to the U.S. to fill us in on the work going on in China. The following is a summary of his presentation:

The coastal areas of China that are a concern with harmful algal blooms are (north to south) the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, and the South China Sea. The first documented occurrence of a harmful algal bloom (HAB) was in the 1930s. Documented reports of HABs appear to be increasing over time. Blooms are more frequent in the southern parts of the coast, but tend to be larger in geographic extent in the upper coast. Some information indicates that blooms have increased in number in areas which have experienced population growth and increased use of fertilizers. Areas that are classified as having poorer water quality based on measures of eutrophication are more likely to experience blooms. Reduced inflow of the Yellow River into the Yellow Sea is also associated with increased numbers of blooms there. Until 1976 only three papers had been published describing HABs off the Chinese coast. In the early 1980s research efforts were begun after a large bloom which affected fisheries. In the 1990s China became more involved with UNESCO and other international research efforts. Research in China has included such components as modeling and prediction, control, description of toxins, and formation of HABs. There are eighteen research institutes involved in HAB work. Some of the governmental entities supporting these institutes include SOA, the State Oceanic Administration (comparable to the U.S. NOAA), the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Education, and the Chinese Academy of Fisheries Science.

To date 93 HAB species have found along the Chinese coast. They include diatoms, protozoans, and dinoflagellates. Professor Zhu described a current mesocosm study in which cylindrical tanks are moored offshore. Nutrients are added to the enclosures to measure algal response. This work has allowed a model of bloom dynamics to be developed for Skeletonema.

China is involved in the GEOHAB program and hosted a meeting in 2001. CEOHAB is the Chinese equivalent to the U.S. ECOHAB program. A CEOHAB meeting was held in Xiangshan (west of Beijing) after the GEOHAB meeting. This included participants from Taiwan and Hong Kong as well as Chinese researchers. CEOHAB is funding $3.5 million of work on HABs. About 60 scientists from 10 universities and institutes are involved. It will be a 5-year project that will focus on three areas: Yangtze River estuary, Bohai Sea, and the coastal area of Guangdong. The study will focus on species of Karenia, Prorocentrum, Alexandrium, Phaeocystis, Pseudo-nitzschia and Noctiluca scintillans.

Professor Zhu spoke next about the different components of China's HAB research plan. Monitoring has three goals: national coordination under SOA, developing a management plan, and basic research. Some of the participants in the monitoring include the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Chinese Inspection/Quality Agency. In the East China Sea, 113 stations are monitored. Monitoring includes use of SeaWIFS and NOAA satellite data, airplane surveillance, and vessels. China is planning to launch HY-1, a color satellite, soon. Through these efforts, one Noctiluca bloom was predicted three days in advance based on dissolved oxygen and chlorophyll a changes. China would like to develop a volunteer monitoring plan to provide broader coverage in time and space. This requires only simple equipment and training. Management of HABs is a big challenge in China. There is insufficient monitoring, management and research, and no HAB response plan. One encouraging sign was that China's latest five-year national development plan mentioned HABs for the first time. Prevention of HABs revolves around pollution controls. China is trying to maintain pollution discharges at 1995 levels. Waste load allocation studies are also in the works. Another strategy is to control or regulate ballast water discharges to prevent inoculating the coastal waters with HAB species from other areas. Control of HABs requires an early warning system of some kind. Physical, chemical, and biological control methods are all being considered. The use of 4 mg/l of clay to flocculate HAB cells out of the water column seems like a promising solution, but only in the research stage at this time. South Korea has used it, with some success.

At the close there was some discussion about how to initiate collaborations with Chinese workers. Professor Zhu suggested that people look at the proceedings of the last International Conference on Harmful Algae to find names of Chinese researchers with whom to collaborate. Professor Zhu emphasized that CEOHAB welcomes international cooperation.