Securing a stable energy supply is viewed as one of the country's most important issues.As affairs now stand, the ratio of oil and natural gas self-sufficiency are only 0.3% and 3.5% respectively. The progress made in condition ordering which leads to the exploitation of offshore resources and the promotion of the effective utilization of marine areas is crucial.

At the time when the 20th century was about to end, the Argo Project which is a system thoroughly and uniformly to monitor the seas of the world using 3,000 floats drifting in the middle layer was drawn up when the 20th century was about to end.This project has turned into a joint endeavor around the world and about 2,600 floats are operating right now (November, 2006) and we are one step away to complete the system.From here on, much more must be done such as the maintenance and further strengthening of this system, as well as the equipping of new sensors which measure dissolved chemicals.

The Chinese mitten crab is a famous delicacy in Shanghai cuisine. Its scientific name is Eriocheir sinensis.They are found spending most of their life in lakes and rivers in the west from the dividing ridge of the Korean peninsula and also in the wide area of Northern China, but they must return to the sea to breed.Back in the 1910s, they grew proliferously around the Elbe River in Germany, and now they are widespread in the rivers of European nations, and the lakes of Canada and the US.In 2004, two females were found in Tokyo Bay in Japan and there are concerns that they will be competitive with the Japanese mitten crab (E. japonica).