A key lab that will monitor China's eastern coast for 'red tides' -- outbreaks of algae in organic matter -- was dedicated in Shanghai on Wednesday.

China has a coastline of 18,000 kilometers, and red tide outbreaks have become more frequent amid larger build-ups of organic matter in coastal waters. A common cause of such build-ups is improper disposal of untreated waste products.

The East China Sea was worst hit, with 400 outbreaks from 2001 to 2007 that affected 93,000 sq km.

The new facility, housed at the East Sea Branch of the State Oceanic Administration (SOA), will be very significant in improving protection of the marine ecology and environment, according to Chen Lianzeng, deputy chief of the administration.

The lab is literally known as the "SOA key lab for three-dimensional monitoring technology and application of offshore red tide hazards". It will do research in several areas, such as stereo monitoring technology, forecasts, warnings and emergency administrative networking technology.

Monitoring, testing, remote sensing, forecasting and alarm procedures will all be part of this process.

(Xinhua News Agency April 17, 2008)