2ND IOA PLANNING MEETING HELD IN TAHITI

IOA News Letters Summary

In accordance with the understanding agreed in the first IOA planning meeting, the Government of French Polynesia hosted the second IOA Planning Meeting in Tahiti during February 8-11, 1991. The meeting took place in the premises of South Pacific Institute for Renewable Energy (S.P.I.R.E.). Dr. Vincent J. Coutrot, Director of the Institute, and Mr. Michel Gauthier of the IFREMER co-chaired the meeting, with Dr. Luis A. Vega of the PICHTR served as the Rapporteur.

The meeting was officially opened in behalf of the French Polynesia Government by Dr. Coutort.

He welcomed the working group and then proceeded to sunmmarize the objectivies as well as ongoing activities of his institute. Mr. Michel Gauthier was asked to brief the local press regarding the technical aspects of OTEC and DOWA. A video entitled Kona Cold was shoown to the participants and the press. The movie presents several research activities ongoign at NELH in the area of DOWA mariculture. Dr. C.Y.Li of Taiwan, R.O.C. gave the opening remarks which briefly explained the IOA background and meeting objectives. Shortly after his opening remarks, the meeting proceeded to the review of recent developmental activities in OTEC/DOWA which included:

	Recent progress of R. O. C. 's multiple product OTEC project (by S. Wang);
	Progress and activities of OTEC/DOWA in Hawaii (by L. Vega );
	Japanese DOWA/mariculture experiments in Toyama Bay and Kochi (by M. Gauthier);
	OTECA-Japan's effort in proposing an international OTEC co-product industry in Christmas and Viti Levu Islands (by T. Nakajima).

Review of developmental activities was followed by the discussion of :

	Historical events of OTEC/DOWA developments;
	Listing of potential IOA members;
	DOWA European subgroup activities;
	Potential sources of funding for DOWA;
	IOA newsletter status;
	Development of IOA marketing activities.

An official dinner was offered to all participants by the Honorable Boris Leontieff, Ministry of Ocean Resources, Public Works and Energy, on the evening of February 8 at the sea front of Beachcomber Hotel and a field trip to Bora was arranged by the S.P.I.R.E. during the weekend (February 9-10).

The meeting resumed on February 11, and began with a presentation of the DOW Endo-upwelling theory by Dr. F. Rouge-ire from the ORSTOM Center at Tahiti French Polynesia. Following the presentation was the discussion of the IOA charter/by-laws and considerations of the budget required by the IOA. These discussion and considerations occupied the participants for the rest of the day. At the end, following conclusions were reached:

1. IOA will be an organization dedicated to the promotion of OTEC/DOWA via an exchange of information among its members and the education of the general public and respective governments. IOA should not venture into commercial or marketing realms;
2. Mr. Michel Gauthier will forward an annotated version of the charter/by-laws discussed during the meeting to the Core Group for consideration and adoption at the upcoming General Assembly;
3. There will be a need to have the Core Group members meet before the General Assembly to jointly draft the final version of the proposed charter/by-laws, work plans, and other statements regarding of this association;
4. The operating budget for the IOA should be kept at a minimum. While IOA should provide advice and recommendations to others in matters related to OTEC and DOWA, IOA should neither sponsor for the execution of OTEC/DOWA projects nor should they make financial arrangements to facilitate such projects;
5. The normal funding collected from member's due will be only used to cover the costs for publishing the IOA newsletter and to support the operation of the IOA secretariat. The IOA officers should be honorary. A quick estimate of the minimum budget was established to be US$ 150,000;and
6. Funding from corporate sponsors will be sought in the beginning. In the interim(until the end of 1991), the offer of Taiwan R. O. C. to continue providing the secretariat and support for the publication of newsletters was accepted with appreciation.