Welcome to the Black Sea Global Ocean Observing System

The Black Sea GOOS is a local Association formed by the Black Sea riparian countries in order to foster Operational Oceanography in the region and set up links with other regional and global organizations (with similar objectives).
Major Aims and Objectives
Policy of the Black Sea GOOS
Black Sea Operational Oceanography
Black Sea GOOS Ad Hoc Steering Committee
History of the Black Sea GOOS
Memorandum of Understanding of the Black Sea GOOS  
Projects:
   ARENA
News & Events:
Members:
Evaluation of the Questionnaire
Contact Information

 

History of Black Sea GOOS

The Co-operative Marine Science Programme for the Black Sea (CoMSBlack) (1991) was the first multinational program implemented in the Black Sea. It was recognized and supported by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) and UNESCO. The participating countries in CoMSBlack were Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, the Russian Federation, Turkey and the USA. 

In September 1994 a Regional Black Sea Workshop was held in Varna (Bulgaria). The important consequence of the Varna meeting was the agreement for the formation of an IOC Regional Committee and a Regional Programme consisting of two pilot projects (i) Black Sea Fluxes and (ii) Marine Services. On the Eighteenth Session of the IOC, the Assembly adopted a resolution (Resolution XVIII-17, UNESCO, Paris, 7-9 June 1995) which established the IOC Black Sea Regional Committee (BSRC). The resolution established the Terms of References (ToRs) for the BSRC and the resolution also defined the initial tasks of the BSRC for the period 1996-1997. 

The First Session of the BSRC was held in Varna, Bulgaria, (10-13 September 1996). Two Pilot Projects "The Assessment of Sediment Fluxes in the Black Sea" and "The Black Sea GOOS" (named PP1 and PP2 in the following) were discussed extensively and programs were developed. 

The first workshop of PP1 was held in Istanbul, Turkey (May 1997) which was followed by the International Conference "Black Sea 1997" in Varna, Bulgaria (May 1997). 

At the first meeting of the IOC BSRC (Paris November 1998) a decision was made to organize the IOC BSRC Second Session which was held in Istanbul, Turkey (5-6 May 1999). This meeting defined four important items: 

  • The structure and Responsibilities of the Black Sea Regional Committee (ToRs).
  • The ToRs for the BSRC Chairman and the ToRs for the BSRC Vice-Chairman.
  • The ToRs for the Executive Secretary of the BSRC.
  • Co-ordinators.

The activities and the decisions of the BSRC at the Istanbul meeting were approved by the Twentieth Session of the IOC Assembly (29 June- 9 July, 1999, Paris) and it adopted Resolution XX-18 for this purpose. 

The first session of Pilot Project 2 was held in Albena (Bulgaria) in November 1999. This meeting defined the concepts, goals and objectives of the operational marine services for the Black Sea. The meeting also defined the main aims and objective of the Black Sea GOOS.

 The second session of Pilot Project 2 (Black Sea GOOS) was hed in Poti (Georgia) in May 2001 with the participation of all Black Sea Riparian Countries. Delegations from the IOC, the EuroGOOS, the Black Sea Committee and the Black Sea Environmental Programme. The meeting besides the other objectives adopted the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of the Black Sea GOOS and elected the Black Sea Ad Hoc Steering Committee.

The Black Sea GOOS MoU was signed by five Black Sea countries, namely Bulgaria, Georgia, the Russian Federation, Turkey and the Ukraine on July 6, 2001 in Paris. Romania followed the others and signed the the MoU on October 22, 2001 at the IOC headquarters in Paris.