The Asia-Pacific Region (APR) is a global hub of marine biodiversity, essential for global ecological stability and climate regulation. However, its ecosystems from extensive commercial fisheries to vital coral reefs face growing threats due to intense resource extraction and extreme climate events, such as marine heatwaves.
This Perspective article, led by an international collaboration (including Dr. Cheryl Ames), is the result of a seminar and workshop held at Tohoku University (Japan) in 2023. The goal was to address substantial barriers—including the vast diversity of cultures, languages, and management practices—that impede cross-national research efforts in the region.
The article concludes that these efforts are urgent and essential for supporting science-based policies and decisions, capable of confronting the escalating effects of climate change on the Pacific Asian marine systems.
“Without shared, high-quality data, our ability to detect patterns, predict outcomes, and guide effective action remains severely constrained.”
“A productive way forward is to build on regional initiatives that are already redefining how marine science is approached in the Asia-Pacific. This effort aligns with the goals of the World Premier International Research Centre Initiative-Advanced Institute for Marine Ecosystem Change (WPI-AIMEC), recently established at Tohoku University and Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), and a satellite campus at the University of Hawai’i, Manoa. WPI-AIMEC brings together researchers across disciplines to better understand and forecast marine ecosystem responses to environmental change, with a global scope but a particular focus on the Northwest Pacific.”
Find the Full Paper at Frontiers in Marine Science
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