Report on EMECS 13 Conference

In collaboration with the UK-based Estuarine & Coastal
Sciences Association (ECSA), the International EMECS
Center (hereinafter “EMECS”) co-hosted the 13thInternational Conference on the Environmental Managementof Enclosed Coastal Seas (EMECS13 Conference) as the“ECSA58-EMECS13 Conference,” which was held online forfour days from Monday, September 6 to Thursday, September 9, 2021. The conference wasscheduled to be held at the University of Hull in the United Kingdom in September 2020. However,it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was finally held online.
The conference was held under the theme of “Estuaries and coastal seas in the Anthropocene:Structure, functions, services, and management,” attracting 450 participants including researchersand governmental officials from 47 countries. From Japan, 58 people participated, including Prof.
Motoyuki Suzuki, President EMECS, Prof. Osamu Matsuda, Vice Chair of the Board of Directors ofEMECS, and researchers in the fields of enclosed coastal seas, coastal areas and estuaries.
Unfortunately, all the sessions in the conference were streamed online, but 30 special and regularsessions were held and 10 keynote lectures, 277 oral presentations, and 86 poster presentations werepresented live or through recorded videos during the conference. Each day’s presentations started at
3:45 p.m. in Japan and at 7:45 a.m. in the United Kingdom, so there was a time difference forparticipants in each country, but the entire schedule was completed successfully.
The three special sessions organized by EMECS, “ICM (Integrated Coastal Management) andSatoumi Session,” “Plastics in the Sea Session” and “Students and Schools Partnership Session”(SSP Session) were held in a hybrid format (online and on-site) at Kobe Portopia Hotel. We had
presenters in Japan make presentations at the venue, and general participants watched the online
streaming.
During the conference, a PR area forthe “41st National Convention for theDevelopment of an Abundantly
Productive Sea” (to be held in Akashi

Con fe re n c e program (Japan time ）2021
Afte rn oon

Parallel sessions、Poster session①
6 September

Opening session

7 September

EMECS special session"ICM & Satoumi①"
Parallel sessions

Parallel sessions、Poster session②

EMECS special sessions "ICM & Satoumi ②"
and "Plastics in the sea"
Parallel sessions

Parallel sessions、Poster session③

8 September

9月9日（木）EMECS special session "Students &Schools Partnership Session"
Parallel sessions

City, Hyogo Prefecture in November2022) was established at the special
session venue. Moreover, a poster on
Hyogo Prefecture’s efforts to conserve

Eve n in g

Closing session

the environment of the Seto Inland Sea, which was presented at the poster session, was displayed forvisitors to see.
■Opening ceremony and opening session
The opening ceremony was held from 3:45 p.m. on Monday, September 6. The welcome remarks byECSA representative Prof. Mike Elliott was followed by the opening remarks by Prof. MotoyukiSuzuki, President of EMECS. Then Prof. Masataka Watanabe, Chair of the EMECS Scientific &Policy Committee, introduced the history of EMECS and the EMECS Conference, and Dr. Sally
Little from ECSA introduced the association. This was followed by a eulogy for the late Prof. Victor
de Jonge, an ECSA member who passed away in May last year and had been involved in thepreparation of this conference, and the keynote lecture “Potential impacts of groundwater-borne
nutrients on coastal areas in changing human activities and climate” by Dr. Mitsuyo Saito, AssociateProfessor of Okayama University.
After the opening session, nine sessions were held, including “From the River Source to the Sea:
River-Sea Systems under Global Change” and “Stability, change and ecosystem services in coastalwetlands.” Many presenters and viewers participated.
■EMECS special session “Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) & Satoumi ①”
From 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday, September 7, the EMECSSpecial Session “ICM and Satoumi ①,” chaired by Prof.
Tetsuo Yanagi (Professor Emeritus, Kyushu University), washeld in Room Rainbow, Kobe Portopia Hotel in a hybridformat. Five presentations were made on research andpractices in Japan and overseas incorporating the concept ofSatoumi, including “Value of relationship in the Japanesesatoumi” by Prof. Yanagi, “Possibilities of Satoumi which promote both EcoDRR (Ecosystem-based
Disaster Risk Reduction) and ICM” by Prof. Osamu Matsuda (Professor Emeritus, Hiroshima
University; Vice Chair, Board of Directors of EMECS), and “Salmon-safe: Human and salmon
relationships, from mountains to oceans” by Mr. Kevin Scribner (Salmon-Safe Certification, theUnited States).
In addition, eight people, including Dr. Keita Furukawa (Director, NPO Association for Shore
Environment Creation), made a presentation on the “Coast Card” project, which is carried out incoastal locations both in Japan and overseas with the support of the Belmont Forum.
Four of the presenters in Japan made presentations at the venue.
■EMECS special sessions “Plastics in the sea” and “ICM & Satoumi ②
From 3:45 p.m. on Wednesday, September 8, the EMECS Special Sessions “Plastics in the Sea” and“ICM and Satoumi ②” were held at two venues in Kobe Portopia Hotel in a hybrid format.
At the “ICM and Satoumi ②” session chaired by Prof. Yanagi as on the previous day, threepresentations were made, including “Review of Japan’s activities in pursuit of balancing waterquality management and bio-productivity in the Seto Inland Sea” by Ms. Mimi Nameki (Director,Office of Environmental Management of Enclosed Coastal Seas, Ministry of the Environment).
At the “Plastics in the Sea” session co-chaired by Prof. Hirofumi Hinata (Professor, EhimeUniversity) and Dr. Shuhei Tanaka (Associate Professor, Kyoto University), 10 presentations on
marine plastic pollution, which is a major global issue, were made. The presentations included“Monitoring and modeling of ocean pelagic microplastics” by Prof. Atsuhiko Isobe (Professor,Kyushu University) and “Seasonal variation of microplastics pollution in Sishili Bay of the North
Yellow Sea” by Dr. Yanfang Li (Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, CAS, China).
■Students and Schools Partnership (SSP) session
On Thursday, September 9, the final day of the conference, theSSP Session for high school students was held. The International
EMECS Center has hosted the SSP Session every time since the6th EMECS Conference (held in Bangkok, Thailand in 2003) withthe aim of promoting the development of next-generation leaders
for marine environmental conservation.
This time, a total of 15 high school students (six from Japan, fivefrom the United Kingdom, and four from Germany) participated.
The session was co-chaired by Prof. Hiroshi Kawai (Professor,Kobe University), Prof. Mike Elliott (Professor, University ofHull, the United Kingdom), and Dr. Tim Jennerjahn (WorkingGroup Leader, Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research, Germany). Research presentations
covered various topics, such as marine waste, microplastics, and crude oil spills. After thepresentation, there was a discussion between the chairpersons and the presenters, including questions
regarding the reasons for the choice of research topics.
The high level of research by the high school students was well received by the viewers, and theparticipating students also commented on how glad they were to have participated.
Details of the SSP Session and presentation videos are available on our website.
( https://www.emecs.or.jp/en/topics/emecs13ssp )■Parallel sessions and poster sessions
During the conference, 30 parallel sessions including special sessions and three poster sessions
were held. The Hyogo Prefectural Government made a poster presentation titled “Restoring the Rich
and Beautiful Seto Inland Sea - Hyogo Prefecture.” Due to the time difference with the United
Kingdom, where the co-sponsor ECSA is based, the conference was held in Japan from 3:45 p.m. to
4:00 a.m. the next morning every day.
The sessions covered a wide range of topics, such as environmental conservation, restoration,
challenges and management in the world’s watersheds, estuaries, coastal areas, and oceans. In
addition to live presentations, pre-recorded presentations were also made in consideration of the timedifference and the Internet connection environment.

■Closing session
The closing session was held from 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 9. After ECSA announced theExcellent Presentation Award for SSP presenters, EMECS announced three Excellent PosterPresenters for general presenters from Dr. David Nemazie (Chief of Staff, University of Maryland
Center for Environmental Science, the United States) on behalf of the EMECS best poster award
selection committee. Following this, ECSA made an announcement regarding the next ECSA
Conference (ECSA59) and Dr. George Gogoberidze (Director, International Information andAnalysis Center for Interdisciplinary Research of Russian Arctic Development, Murmansk Arctic
State University, Russia), who will serve as the local secretariat for the next EMECS Conference(EMECS14), announced that EMECS14 will be held in Murmansk, Russia in September 2024.
Finally, Prof. Masataka Watanabe (Professor, Chuo University; Chair, EMECS Scientific & PolicyCommittee) summarized the conference on special/regular sessions, the SSP Session, and othersessions, and then brought the 13th EMECS Conference to a close.
Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the first EMECS Conference held online, withEMECS Special Sessions held in a hybrid format. Although there were some difficulties due to theonline conference platform, which was being used for the first time, and the time differences, wewere able to hold a meaningful conference with the cooperation of many people from the preparation
stage through to the conference period.

Abstracts of presentations
https://www.emecs.or.jp/en/world/presentationtext
Presentation videos by Japanese senior high school students
https://www.emecs.or.jp/topics/emecs13ssp