If nothing is done by 2010, there will be more demand for fish than there are fish in the sea, says the United Nations. That's a fairly frightening prediction and governments in the Asian Pacific are taking it seriously. The role the ocean plays in the regional economies was discussed at the first-ever Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperative meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, held from October 12 to 16.

What exactly is at stake? For one thing, commercial fishing generates more than $20 billion annually in the US alone. In addition, travel and tourism produce $21 trillion in total world demand and 89 million jobs. Also, about two-thirds of the world's population -- 3.6 billion people -- live within 60 kilometres of the coast and many nations depend directly on the sea for their survival, whether through fishing, maritime trade or tourism.

In 1996, US trade with Asia and the Pacific totalled $920.8 billion, roughly 65 per cent of US trade with the world. APEC was established in1989 to promote economic integration in the Pacific region and to sustain economic growth.

There are now 18 member countries, with 10 working groups, each focussed on a different aspect of the economy.

Infant death rate up in Kerala

A recent study by the Centre for Development Studies has shattered the accepted notion about low infant mortality rates (IMR) in Kerala. The new study says that the IMR is as high as 37 per 1,000 and not 14 per 1,000 as claimed by the government.

The study by CDS scholars S Irudaya Rajan and P Mohanachandran analysed the official statistics in the 1996 sample registration system provided by the registrar-general of India. They found that out of the 14 children who died in Kerala within a year, 11 had died within a week -- a rate that is higher than the national average.

Kerala's record is even poorer in the case of still-births, the study says. According to the 1994 statistics, only Uttar Pradesh and Bihar had a still-birth rate lower than Kerala. But the newstudy has found that Kerala's average of 10 still-births per 1,000 was above the all-India average.

AIDS on the rise in Calcutta

AIDS is spreading at an alarming rate in Calcutta and by 1999, there may be at least 49,000 people infected with the virus. This projection has been made by scientists of the Indian Institute of Statistics, Baranagar, Calcutta.

Analysing the census records, the scientists say that this is the first statistical projection of HIV seropositivity in Calcutta. However, the present rate of infection in Calcutta is lower than that of Mumbai and Chennai, but by the end of the century, it may be the highest infected city in the country, the scientists have predicted.

According to a WHO report, about 80 per cent of the daily additions ofHIV-infected cases (around 4,000) in the world are from developing countries in Asia.

Mill makes first ``green'' paper

A New York paper mill has just completed its first run of printing and writing paper certified to have come from awell-managed forest.

The paper, produced by the Lyons Falls Pulp and Paper mill, is the first produced under the National Wildlife Federation's regional SmartWood certification initiative.

It carries a Forest Stewardship Council certification label, which means it came from independently inspected and certified forests that have met high standards for environmental and social responsibility, said Spencer Phillips, the Wilderness Society economist who initiated the project.

The Forest Stewardship Council is the not-for-profit organization working to improve forest management practices worldwide through certification of forest products.

Certified solid wood products, from flooring and furniture to bird housesand guitars, have been available for several years, and some tissue and wall paper have recently become available in Europe. Lyons Falls' pulp and paper mill is the first in North America to be awarded a certificate.

It also is producing the only certified printing and writing paper in the world."Today's production run is the first step to ensuring that consumers can get both high quality paper and high quality forestry," said Craig Updike, director of R&D for Lyons Falls Pulp and Paper.

"By offering FSC-labeled paper, we can satisfy our customers' desire to know where their forest products come from and to take positive actions to support responsible forestry."