Daily Archives

18 November, 2024

Nov 18
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Pollutants in the coastal environment

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The BlueWWater partnership advances in the development of new methods to treat and reduce microplastics and emerging pollutants in the coastal environment between Galicia and Portugal

The European project BlueWWater, coordinated by the Technology Centre of the Sea- CETMAR, is making progress in the objective of controlling and reducing the presence of microplastics and emerging pollutants in both urban wastewater and the coastal environment between Galicia and northern Portugal.

The institutions working on this initiative, co-financed by the European Union through the INTERREG VI-A Spain-Portugal Cooperation Programme (POCTEP) 2021-2027, met on Thursday 7th November at the Aquatic Environment Research Institute for Global Health (iARCUS) of the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) for the third coordination project meeting, reporting on the progress of the project.

During the meeting, organized by the Chromatography and Chemometrics Research Group (ChromChem) of the USC, the partners reviewed the advances in the development and optimization of methods for the evaluation of pollutants and microplastics, almost finished.  It will allow automated and standardized analysis in surface water (river and coastal) and wastewater samples. Twelve external laboratories will participate in the validation of this new analytical method, to be carried out through an interlaboratory comparison (ILCs).

In addition to this activity, led by the USC with the participation of the Technology Institute for the Control of the Marine Environment (INTECMAR), Water and Energy from Porto (E.M.) and IEO-CSIC, the BlueWWater consortium analyzed the planning and coordination of the first sampling campaign of river and coastal waters and Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP), to be carried out this month in Galicia and in northern Portugal. The samplings were planned in line with the guidelines of the recently approved Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive.

Meanwhile, the efficiency of various pilot treatments for the removal of pollutants is being assessed. Also, the study of the potential reuse of treated water for use in agriculture is planned together with  another study on environmental risk based on ecotoxicological tests, while work is being developed in models to evaluate the dispersion of pollutants in the aquatic environment.

All these activities, coordinated by the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto (FCUP), include the participation of Water and Energy from Porto, E.M. (AEdP), the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), IEO-CSIC, the Interdisciplinary Centre for Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR) and the Water Technology Centre (CETAQUA).

Regarding the environmental education and awareness-raising activities planned in  BlueWWater there was, among other activities, the production of an educational video ‘O ciclo de vida do plástico’ (The life cycle of plastic), the clean-up campaigns in the Limia and Miño rivers and the placement of an eco-barrier in Ribeiro de S. Gonçalo (Miño river).  Some of these activities were part of the INTERREG Cooperation Day on 21st September.

NOR-WATER Network

CETMAR is leading efforts to boost and consolidate the NOR-WATER network, born in a previous project with the aim of setting a forum for multidisciplinary public-private collaboration in the field of Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs).

Efforts are now focused on the development of a catalogue of skills and technological offer; a website is being designed to include this catalogue, as well as an interactive skills map and a database with information about CECs projects and resources.

Further to the project coordination meeting, the BlueWWater partners attended on Friday morning to the workshop ‘Present and future of the contamination of the aquatic environment by emerging pollutants and microplastics’, which took place in the auditorium of the iARCUS of the USC, with the participation of entities from the scientific and technological field.

This workshop was organized by the USC ChromChem Group and iARCUS in the BlueWWater project and in collaboration with the NePMTune project (Protecting the circular water economy from the threat of persistent, mobile and toxic chemicals), funded by the National Research Agency and the European Union through the NextGeneration/PRTR funds.

The aim of the workshop was to analyze methods and technologies to determine, treat and remove pollutants, as well as the challenges of the recent approval of the new Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive.

Speakers discussed the challenges of the Directive regarding the monitoring of pollutants and the ecotoxicological studies and environmental impact analyses in the aquatic environment. Studies on the reuse of treated water for crop irrigation were presented, and there were debate on solutions for the elimination of micropollutants with quaternary treatments in WWTPs that allow progress towards energy neutrality.

About the BlueWWater consortium

Together with CETMAR, coordinating BlueWWater, the consortium includes INTECMAR, the University of Santiago de Compostela, CETAQUA Galicia and IEO-CSIC. The Portuguese partners include the Faculties of Engineering and Science of the University of Porto, CIIMAR, Water and Energy from Porto E.M, Aquamuseu from Vilanova de Cerveira and Environmental Interpretation Centre from Viana do Castelo.

The partnership is also supported by an advisory panel made up of Waters from Galicia, the Miño-Sil Hydrographic Confederation, the Portuguese Environment Agency, Aguas del Norte S.A., Labaqua, S.A. and Viaqua Water Integral Management from Galicia.

This action is co-financed by the European Union through the INTERREG VI-A Spain – Portugal Cooperation Programme (POCTEP) 2021-2027.

Nov 18
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NatMIRC

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Galicia and Namibia show their interest in renewing the Memorandum of Understanding within a general framework project to be signed with the Kingdom of Spain

  • The agreement would strengthen the relationship between the region and the African country in terms of research, cooperation and fisheries management, as well as the generation of added value
  • Mr. Villares consolidates the historical collaboration between the two regions, which allowed the building of a station supplying fry to the aquaculture sector of the South African country, supported by the research action from CETMAR
  • The regional representative continues with the goal of creating institutional and economic alliances as a driving force for the promotion of the Galician maritime-fishing sector

The Regional Department for Marine Issues and the Namibian Government  show their interest in renewing the Memorandum of Understanding within a general framework project to be signed with the Kingdom of Spain. The agreement aims at keeping the collaboration in terms of research, cooperation and fisheries management.

Addressed by the head of the department, Alfonso Villares, and the deputy minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources of Namibia, Sylvia Makgone, it took place yesterday in a working meeting, during the presence of the Namibian leader at the Second Global Seafood Sustainability Forum, held in Vigo.

This agreement would strengthen bilateral cooperation and development in research and fisheries management, as well as the generation of added value. For this reason, Galicia Regional Government (Xunta) hopes that the Spanish Department will take effective and rapid steps to carry out the process.

CETMAR in the spotlight

Therefore, Mr. Villares management allows to consolidate a historical relationship between the two regions, which led to among other actions, the building of a station supplying fry to the aquaculture sector in the area. It also promoted various research projects to advance knowledge of sustainable commercial species and to evaluate ecosystem, with CETMAR in the spotlight.

This agreement would therefore contribute to further enhance the work of the Centre, which already made it possible the project with the Namibian National Marine Information and Research Centre (NatMIRC), focusing on the assessment of fishery resources, stock assessment and monitoring of fish stocks.

With this meeting, the regional representative continues the round of contacts with the heads of various international governments in which the Galician maritime-fishing sector has a significant impact. The objective is to create institutional and economic synergies with a driving force on the Galician economy and, consequently, to increase the competitiveness of the maritime-industry chain and strengthen its presence in the countries where fisheries is a heavyweight.

Regarding Namibia, where the primary sector accounts for 18.5% of GDP, fisheries accounts for 2.6%. Trade relations are precisely focused in this area, accounting for 90% of Spanish imports. In 2024, exports exceed 40 million Euros.

Nov 18
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VI SIBECORP

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CETMAR participates in the organisation of the VI SIBECORP, a scientific forum on Latin American fisheries that brings together a hundred researchers in Portugal.

  • The Latin-American Symposium on Reproductive Ecology, Recruitment and Fisheries will last until Friday 15th November at the IPMA headquarters in Oeiras
  • The congress is promoted by the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere together with the Spanish Institute of Oceanography, with the collaboration of the Technology Centre of the Sea as technical secretariat of Red Invipesca

One hundred researchers belonging to more than 35 institutions from a dozen countries are participating from Monday until 15th November in the sixth edition of the ‘Latin American Symposium on Reproductive Ecology, Recruitment and Fisheries-SIBECORP’, held in Portugal.  the Technology Centre of the Sea-CETMAR, dependent on the Regional Department for Marine Issues, was in charge of its organization through the technical secretariat of Red Invipesca.

The congress is organized by the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), together with the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO), and will be held in a hybrid format (face-to-face and virtually) at the IPMA headquarters in Oeiras, Portugal.

Consolidated as an outstanding forum for scientific discussion for the promotion and application of the ecosystem approach in the assessment of Latin American fisheries, the aim of this sixth edition is to continue enriching knowledge around these topics.

The symposium will allow the exchange of the latest research advances and the generation of new professional alliances among participants from 12 countries: Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Ecuador, Panama, France and the Philippines. Researchers will present nearly a hundred papers in oral and poster sessions.

The presentations are divided into four thematic sessions on reproductive strategies of aquatic organisms, reproductive potential and resilience, recruitment and reproductive success, and reproductive ecology and fisheries management. The program also included two pre-congress courses on 7th and 8th November, and a post-congress course on 18th November.

SIBECORP is an initiative of the Latin American Network of Fisheries Research-Red Invipesca, with CETMAR in charge of the technical secretariat and its activities funded by the Regional Department for Marine Issues.

SIBECORP held its first edition in Vigo in 2009 and since then four other editions have been held in Argentina (2012), Brazil (2015), Chile (2018) and Colombia (2021). Up to now, with the participation of representatives from a dozen countries nearly half a thousand papers have been presented.

As in previous editions, the SIBECORP event responds to the concern of Latin American researchers to promote collaboration between their countries, given the importance of marine and inland fisheries as a vital economic resource for Latin America, Spain and Portugal. On this basis, the symposium aims at identifying and defining lines of research of common interest and to encourage joint projects promoting cooperation in fisheries research.

Registration for this new edition is still open through the symposium’s website, which also gathers all the information about the VI SIBECORP.

Red Invipesca

In addition to participating in the organization of the symposium, and with the support of the Regional Department for Marine Issues through CETMAR, Red  Invipesca is developing other actions to enrich collaboration between marine research institutions in the Latin American area.

Accordingly, Invipesca drew up a map of researchers and research institutions in the marine field in Latin America and developed several exchange actions to develop common strategic lines. The network also serves as an outreach channel for different funding lines for the implementation of projects.

With a view to drawing up the priority lines of action for the next three years, the members of Red Invipesca will participate in the Annual Assembly of the Network during the SIBECORP event.