December 2024 – PhD day

A new edition of iMARES PhD day with lots of interesting talks about student projects and discussions. And it follows with a nice pre-hollidays lunch!

December 2024 – A new report calls for transforming the current fisheries management model to ensure long-term sustainability

The ICM-CSIC, in collaboration with the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO-CSIC), has produced a new report that underscores the urgency of transforming the current fisheries management model, including the production, distribution, and consumption of marine resources to ensure long-term sustainability and a fairer distribution of the benefits generated.

Specifically, the report highlights the need to adopt an ecosystem-based fisheries management model rather than one focused on individual species, considering the complex interactions between species and their environment. According to the authors, this approach will improve the health and resilience of marine ecosystems and complement traditional strategies, which are not always sufficient.

Furthermore, the report proposes a holistic vision of the oceans, considering the entirety of marine ecosystems, including habitats, biodiversity, the ecological processes that sustain them, and the range of economic activities that take place, from resource production to distribution and consumption.

“This integrated perspective is essential for reversing the degradation of marine ecosystems and ensuring their recovery, thus contributing to the preservation of the services they provide to society,” says Marta Coll (ICM-CSIC), the study’s author.

Research and equitable distribution of benefits

The report also stresses the importance of scientific research as a fundamental basis for the development of tools and innovative strategies that enable more effective and sustainable management of marine resources. In addition, it emphasizes the need to ensure fairer and more transparent value chains, ensuring that the benefits reach local communities and sector workers in a just manner.

“A fairer distribution of the benefits generated by fishing and aquaculture is necessary. We cannot talk about sustainability solely in environmental terms, but also need to include social and economic justice. The benefits of these sectors must be equitable and transparent for local communities and workers,” states Miquel Ortega (ICM-CSIC), another of the report’s authors.

Finally, the document calls on governments, businesses, and civil society to collaborate on the implementation of urgent measures for production, distribution, and consumption that will ensure the health of the oceans and a sustainable future for the next generations. These actions are vital for contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those related to protecting life below water and combating climate change.

The new report is part of the “Science for Public Policy” collection, which aims to act as a bridge between research centres and policymakers:

“This programme is intended to become a mechanism for public officials at all levels of government to make more effective decisions based on scientific knowledge,” says the President of CSIC, Eloísa del Pino.

The report is also issued in Alimentta think tank

November 2024 – A new edition of the Ecopath with Ecosim course at ICM-CSIC

Another year, we organized an Ecopath with Ecosim course at the ICM-CSIC, in collaboration with Ecopath International Research Initiative, and funded by ongoing projects Oceans Acción, PROOCEANS, GES4SEAS, MarinePlan, Actnow, and EcoScopium.

22 people attended from different countries and with different research questions to tackle with EwE. We had a week of great discussions and learning, and we are thrilled with the interest shown by all participants! 

 

November 2024 – We organize a species distributions modelling course

The first week of November 2024 we have held a fantastic species distributions modelling course at ICM-CSIC with the title “User friendly tools for spatial-temporal species distribution models“, by Alba Fuster-Alonso, Jorge Mestre-Tomás, Jazel Ouled-Cheikh, and Maria Grazia Pennino.

This course has been organized under the Spanish Project ProOceans, and the new R package Glossa has been presented and tested!

 

 

 

March 2024 – Master students day

December 2023 – We organize a modelling course to study the effects of human activities on marine ecosystems

Modelling courses to study the effects of human activities on marine ecosystems are back at the ICM!

During the week of the 11th to the 15th of December 2023, the ICM hosted, once again, an ecosystem modelling course to teach participants from different institutions around the world how to use modelling techniques to study the effects of human activities and climate change on marine ecosystems.

In total, 20 participants from 13 countries (Romania, Germany, Denmark, South Africa, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Ireland, Finland, Holland, Greece, Italy and France) got together to learn about the ecosystem modelling approach Ecopath with Ecosim  (EwE,). This course, organized under 7 European and National projects (Ges4Seas, ActNow, MarinePlan, FutureMares, EcoScope, Oceans+, and ProOceans), aimed to help participants with their modelling-related tasks, work packages and deliverables.

Ecosystem modelling courses were frequently taught at ICM before 2019, and starting with this course, the intention is to organize them again on annual basis. These courses are a great opportunity for the scientific community to get introduced to one of the most applied ecological modelling tools in the world, while meeting participants from all over the world and learn about the recent developments of the approach.

A three-day introductory course was followed by a two-day advanced course. The introductory course discussed basic concepts and procedures modelling aquatic ecosystems using the EwE approach. Participants were provided with the principles behind EwE, and how to design, parameterize and analyze an ecological model. Introductory concepts of the temporal module Ecosim and the spatial-temporal module Ecospace were presented.

The advanced course discussed in-depth principles of Ecospace. Special focus was paid to how to use EwE to study the impacts of cumulative stressors, including the impact of climate change, and the effects of alternative management options of marine resources to move towards adaptation and mitigation of human activities under global change.

The course was taught by a team of core scientists behind EwE: Villy Christensen (University of British Columbia, Canada), Jeroen Steenbeek (Ecopath International Initiative, Spain) and Marta Coll (Institute of Marine Science, Spain). Three teaching assistants completed the team: Elena Lloret and Dorota Szalaj, from ICM, and Riikka Puntilla-Dodd, from Åbo Akademi University (Finland).

 

 

December 2023 – PhD Day

We have celebrated a PhD day in our group with lots of interesting talks about student projects and discussions. Especial connections from Australia, Norway and USA have been a treat.

April 2023 – We participate extensively in the ECCW05 Symposium

Alternate Text

The 5th Symposium about the Effects of Climate Change on the World’s Ocean was held Bergen, Norway, from the 17th to the 21st of April 2023, organized by ICES and PICES.

We participated extensively contributing with several oral presentations and posters. It was a very inspiring week!

 

 

 

 

March 2023 – Master students day

We hold the first Master’s student day! We had great presentations by 19 master students that have finished their work during 2021-2022 or are starting their projects in 2022-2023.

 

TimeYearNameSupervisorsTitle
9.00-9.152022Miriam GimenoFran Ramírez / Joan GiménezClimate and human impacts on global penguin hotspots: current

assessments for future conservation.

9.20-9.352022Laia RosellFran RamírezA systematic review and meta-analysis of the pollutant exposure

(POPs and trace elements) by penguin through the Southern

Hemisphere.

9.40-9.552022Marc VezJoan Navarro / Joan GiménezEffects of the COVID-19 lockdown on the foraging ecology of an

opportunistic predator inhabiting urban environments.

10.00-10.152022Ana FernándezJoan Navarro / Joan GiménezSpatial variability of Hg values in a demersal mesopredator along

the western Mediterranean Sea.

10.20-10.352022Luca FrancotteJoan Giménez / Joan NavarroLong-term changes in the feeding habits of swordfish in the

western Mediterranean Sea.

10.40-10.552022Martín BarreirosValerio SbragagliaAnalysis of fishing in the MPAs of the Spanish Mediterranean

(comparison between recreational and professional fishing)

11.00-11.25Cofee Break
11.25-11.302023Mar PardoJoan Giménez / Marta CollFeeding ecology of age-0 bluefin tuna in the Gulf of Valencia
11.35-11.402023Laura SanzJoan Navarro / NixonCreels as a low-impact alternative to trawling to fish deep-sea

Norway lobster.

11.45-11.502023Ana BaezaFrancisco Ramírez /Joan NavarroUrban gulls as sentinels of Hg pollution in urban marine

environments.

11.55-12.002023Angela LoringJoan Navarro / Joan GiménezUnravelling the causes of mortality in razorbills wintering in

the Alborán Sea

12.05-12.102023Joana DomingoJoan NavarroDistribución y selección de lugares de nidificación de un depredador

oportunista presente en ecosistemas urbanos.

12.15-12.202023Sofía DiéguezMaria BasCanvis en la presència d’espècies marines en el registre

zooarqueològic de l’Hemisferi Sud com a mètode de validació de

models de distribució d’espècies marines en el passat.

12.25-12.302023Aleix FerrerFran RamírezUso de hábitat y ecología trófica de la gaviota de Audouin

en el mediterráneo occidental. Màster en Teledeccion y GIS

12.35-12.402023Núria BoschFran Ramírez / Joan GiménezFacing a warming Antarctic Ocean: Penguin population responses

to increasing water temperatures and sea ice retreat.

12.45-12.502023Estella CarbonellMarta Coll / Miquel OrtegaHistorical analysis of the socio-ecological system associated with

the Ebro Delta purse seine fishery

12.55-13.002023María Begoña CoboOdei García-Garin / Marta CollMicroplastic modelling through the food web: The Delta de

l’Ebre as a study case.

13.05-13.102023Andrés MoreiraOdei García-Garin / Diego PáezAssessing the presence of microplastics in Galapagos Sea Lions’

scats as a bioindicator of pollution in the Galapagos Marine Reserve.

13.15-13.202023Núria GonzálezOdei García-Garin / Manel GazoPresència de microplàstics en els continguts estomacals d’una

espècie de tauró bentònic en zones de canyons submarins

del Golf de Lleó: la moixina (Galeus melastomus) com a cas d’estudi.

13.25-13.302023Lara FazzariValerio SbragagliaPublic attention to invasive alien species in the Mediterranean Sea

 

 

 

 

 

December 2022 – SEINE-ETP end-of-the-year recap

The SEINE-ETP project, in collaboration with purse-seiners fishermen from Castellón, finished successfully the activities of its first year.

The project aims to contribute to the sustainability of small pelagics fisheries in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea. We are looking forward to a new year of learning, discovering and fruitful collaboration with fishermen.