Marine Scientific Research in the South Pacific View from the Inside
Alf Simpson
South Pacific Applied Geoscience Comission
Private Mail Bag GPO, Suva Fiji
I feel somewhat of an imposter having to make a presentation at this highly technical workshop as I really have nothing to say that contributes to the science and technology under discussion. However, I (and the community that I represent) am very much interested in the down-stream side of the topics under discussion and in particular we are keen to learn of what you as a group propose to do in the future in the South Pacific In attempting to justify our interests I would like to begin by briefly addressing the issue of sustainable development and analysing some views as proposed byIOC.
I wish to begin by quoting liberally from a paper prepared by Holland and Kullenberg for a IOC-CIDA-SAREC workshop held in Sidney, BC in September 1995. They said that there is a basic assumption that the aim of all government involvement with global ocean issues is to support sustainable development. The implementation of this aim can take place in a variety of ways. However, it is proposed that wise management is essential and secondly decisions must be based on the best available information and interpretation. This implies that data and knowledge about the ocean environment, its ability to sustain life, the continual monitoring of changes and the accurate forecasting of trends is a prerequisite for sustainable development.
I would like to briefly examine these propositions with respect to what this workshop is specifically convened to address and, more generally, with regard to the aims of oceanographic research in the South Pacific. Legally, since the coming into force of the Law of the Sea Convention a large number of small Pacific island nations have acquired control over a large portion and, by extrapolation, responsibility for the sustainable development of a huge part of the Pacific Ocean. However, if for the many often repeated reasons these countries have little access to data and the knowledge that acemes from the large number of studies carried out in the region what real chance do these countries have in meeting their obligations? Does it then follow that wise management and good decision making is at best difficult and at worst impossible? Can the logic be extended to say that sustainable development of the marine environment for the Pacific Island Countries may be an unattainable goal if the status quo continues? If we are not able to apply the knowledge acquired from oceanographic and marine research to the related environmental issues then would it not be better to resign ourselves to dealing with the issues of survival rather than so called sustainable development?
The subject of my short presentation was supposed to have been about "research circumstances in the South Pacific". If we are to accept the claim of a recently circulated study by the now-disbanded Suva based European Union Bureau then one would believe that the South Pacific is one of the most "researched" areas of the globe. The study does qualify this claim by saying that unfortunately, for the PICs, nearly all the data is elsewhere and the resultant knowledge possibly exists as PhD theses in university libraries outside the region. The amount of indigenous research carried out in the marine sector by the PICs is minimal. The main restrictions being brought on by the very nature of marine, and particularly deep ocean research activities. The PICs basically lack the financial resources, the required technology, the institutional infrastructure and the expertise. Any activity that has been carried out has been in collaboration or cooperation with outside agencies.
The key issue to note is that research is to large extent externally driven and with little or no
