The International Mussel Watch 



Maryland, which was overseen by Committee Member R. Dawson. The committee, supported by 

 IOC and UNEP has been instrumental in organizing meetings of experts in order to seek the best 

 scientific advise in designing the master plan, and in designing and testing analytical protocols and 

 sampling and preservation strategies. The committee has also been instrumental in the 

 dissemination of information concerning the programme and in advertising its goals to the wider 

 scientific community as well as investigating avenues for funding and support from governmental 

 and non-governmental sources. 



In May, 1991 members of the International Mussel Watch Committee and representatives 

 of three regional monitoring programs met at the University of Costa Rica to fipalize the Initial 

 Implementation Phase of International Mussel Watch. At that meeting, sampling sites and 

 participating national scientists were selected. A Project Secretariat has been established at the 

 Coastal Research Center, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to coordinate the work and the 

 two central analytical facilities, International Laboratory for Marine Radioactivity (ILMR) in 

 Monaco and Geochemical and Environmental Research Group (GERG) at Texas A&M University, 

 will analyze the collected samples for organochlorine contaminants. Tissue samples and extracts 

 will be archived for later analysis of other contaminants if funding is available. ILMR will also 

 supervise the Field Scientist responsible for sample collection. The International Mussel Watch 

 Project will complement regional monitoring programs where they are established, thus linking the 

 existing programs and increasing their effectiveness. These existing regional programs provide a 

 base on which to build an international program and their support and collaboration is critical to the 

 success of the international program. Discussions in Costa Rica led to a fine-tuning of the 

 International Mussel Watch program outlined above. A total of 80 potential sampling areas were 

 selected and host-country scientists have been invited to collaborate in the program. In the Initial 

 Implementation Phase, samples will be collected throughout the region with the assistance of host- 

 country scientists and relevant national institutions. These scientists will form the nucleus of an 

 international marine monitoring network through which the results of the project will be 

 disseminated. Some of these scientists will also analyze collected tissue samples and will 

 participate in the data interpretation of analytical results with the Project Secretariat and Analytical 

 Centers. 



Host-Country scientists and IMW sampling sites will be coordinated by the Woods Hole- 

 based Project Secretariat, working with the Field Scientific Officer. All sampling and sample 

 logistics will be supervised by the Field Scientific Officer and the Host-Country scientists will 

 work directly with him. The field sampling is currently underway. Samples will be analyzed at the 

 two contract laboratories, which will also participate in data review and interpretation. Initial data 



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