Data management activities after PICES XI in JAPAN

1. basic situation

1) There are two TCODE members in Japan, one from Japan Oceanographic Data Center (JODC) and another from Fisheries Research Agency (FRA).

2) JODC distributes and makes archival of mainly oceanographic data.

3) FRA conducts researches by their own budget or by funds of Japanese government like Fisheries Agency, however it does not have its own data center.

4) FRA's oceanographic data holdings are transferred to JODC for archival and distribution.

5) There a re some difficulties for JODC to deal with data other than Oceanographic ones.

6) Fisheries Agency has a large semi-closed database aimed to conduct annual stock assessment, of which data are collected by FRA and prefectures' research institutes. The database is managed by Japan Fisheries Information Center (JAFIC).

2. what worked with database

JODC (Contact person: Satoshi Satoh: satoshi-satou-2@kaiho.mlit.go.jp)

JODC operates an on-line database system, J-DOSS (JODC Data On-line Service System: http://www.jodc.go.jp/service.htm ), which provides data users with physical, chemical, and biological oceanographic data through Internet. After the last annual meeting, JODC updated the data and improved the function of J-DOSS.

1) Update of Database

The plankton data observed and processed by Dr. Odate of Tohoku National Fisheries Research Institute were added to the Marine Organisms (Plankton) Observation Database. A total of about 17,000 data were collected in the Tohoku Sea Area, off the northeastern part of Japan, during 1951-1990.The total number of plankton data J-DOSS contains became about 38,000.

In addition, recent ocean station data by Japan Meteorological Agency and Japan Coast Guard joined in J-DOSS.

2) Improvement of Function

In order to meet the data users' requests to visualize the oceanographic data, JODC has provided the ocean station data and the ocean current data in ODV spreadsheet (generic format) since September 2003. ODV (Ocean Data View) is the visualization software developed by Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany.

And, for the Japanese researchers and students, JODC translated 'Ocean Data View User's Guide' into Japanese with the cooperation of Marine Information Research Center of Japan Hydrographic Association (MIRC).

FRA (Contact person : Muneharu Tokimura:tokimura@fra.affrc.go.jp)

1) New? data collection

FRA is collecting old (before 1965) biological and Fisheries data recorded on paper, of oceanography, egg survey, commercial catch, length frequency (sardine) collected by FRA and prefectures.

These data will be opened as Fisheries Oceanography Data Base with English summary at ministry's calculating center in Tsukuba in next fiscal year.

2) Data of stock assessment

Annual stock assessment report (summaries) are opened in home page of FRA and Fisheries Agency (http://abchan.job.affrc.go.jp/ (in Japanese)), which are renewed in every September.

Results of annual stock assessment of major stocks are written in English in Ecosystem Status Report.

Detailed stock assessment report with the data of commercial catch, catch at age, stock size at age, F table, etc. is going to be opened at the same home page in this fiscal year (in Japanese).

3) Software development

Project "Development of simulating model for fisheries resources with GIS" will be

finished in this fiscal year. These results will be opened on web in next fiscal year.

A Construction of oceanographic meta database and supporting system.

В Relation between Egg and larvae distribution and oceanography.

С Combination of commercial catch data and satellite information

D Development of real time oceanographic monitoring system at mixing area

E Development of real time oceanographic monitoring system at Kuroshio area

F Development of fisheries oceanographic data circulating system with XML.

3. future plan

For data management, FRA has following two alternative plans.

A: to have FRA's own data center

B: to use ministry's calculating center in Tsukuba