1998-99

We are pleased to record that the International Society for the Study of Harmful Algae (ISSHA) has been affiliated to IUBS as a division or section within IABO and that affiliation has been approved. We wish ISSHA well in their scientific endeavours.

For some years the scientific priority of IABO has been Marine Biodiversity. Following their adoption of the Biodiversity Convention, many countries have produced National Action Plans, but marine elements have tended to receive proportionately little attention. The President and Secretary have worked to help redress the balance by taking part in scientific meetings on the subject, particularly in support of the International DIVERSITAS Programme, and publishing statements on the need for greater attention to marine aspects. In the course of the year they published the report of the Workshop on Marine Biodiversity held at the Fourth International Marine Biotechnology Conference in Italy in 1997. Many other National Correspondents have worked to the same ends in their capacity as senior scientists in their own country and internationally.

Since biodiversity has been prominent on the agenda of many meetings in recent years, we have deliberately not arranged yet another one under the auspices of IABO, nor have we considered it timely to propose a separate meeting on another theme, since in general the major international topics are well served by dedicated bodes organized under the umbrella of IGBP or under the auspices of international bodies such as ICES, IUBS etc.

Preparations are being made, however, for a major event in 2001, in conjunction with the International Association for Physical Sciences of the Oceans (IAPSO). This Joint Assembly will be held at Mar del Plata (Argentina) in the week of 21-28 October 2001. The meeting will focus on a range of contrasting marine environments in order to illustrate and define the multidisciplinary responses to environmental challenges that are already with us or may arise in the new millennium. It is provisionally entitled: "2001 Ocean Odyssey."