News

The amount of plastic in rivers and the ocean is increasing all the time. Within the frame of the PLUXIN project, Flemish scientists, entrepreneurs and The Blue Cluster are joining forces to map the plastics transported to the sea via ports and rivers, using innovative and automatic detection methods. The ultimate goal is to provide solutions and to set up pioneering commercial initiatives in Flanders in the plastic sanitation of water and sediments.

A first analysis shows that the corona-related lockdown (18 March to 3 May 2020) reduced direct expenditure by Belgian recreational sea fishers by almost 0.6 million euros. The average general well-being experienced a slight decrease while the (temporary) unemployment among the active part of this community increased from 6 to 32%. The loss in catch volume amounted to almost 18 tonnes, with the largest decline for cod, whiting and dab. 

Within the BlueBio ERA-Net COFUND funding programme, a call has been launched for pre-proposals aimed at the supply systems in the Blue Bioeconomy. Candidate projects within this call should focus on identifying new and improving existing ways to market natural products and services and finding new ways to create value in the Blue Bioeconomy. Submitting pre-proposal is possible until 14 September 2020.

The marine environment offers a wide variety of organisms. All of them can contain potentially interesting bioactive compounds. Under the motto “who does not seek, does not find”, the PROBIO project aims to intensively screen a selection of marine organisms from Belgian waters for potentially interesting bioactive molecules. The research consortium aims to provide an essential knowledge base for commercial applications in various sectors.

The recently launched Horizon 2020 project UNITED is investigating how the scarce space at sea can be used by multiple users. For five existing demonstration pilots in three European seas, the technical, regulatory, economic, social and environmental requirements and impacts are being investigated if multiple commercial activities want to develop there together. An interactive webinar on 3 June (12:00-14:00) will introduce you to the project and the pilot sites.

In its eighth Policy Brief, the European Marine Board, together with the EU-funded SOPHIE project (Seas, Oceans and Public Health in Europe), provides an overview of the policy challenges in striving to achieve a balance between ocean and human health, and of the cooperation and research needed to meet these challenges.

On Friday 20 November 2020 (afternoon), the Blue Cluster and the Flanders Marine Institute VLIZ will jointly organise the Blue Economy Science Summit of BESS 2020 - the new name for the annual meeting Marine Science meets Maritime Industry. At this event in Ostend, companies and knowledge institutions come up with innovative ideas for collaboration between science and marine/maritime industry.

The Belgian coast is the largest tourist attraction in the country, but how significant is the risk of contamination by SARS-CoV-2 (COVID19) when we go back to the beach this summer? In collaboration with the University of Ghent and the Province of West Flanders, VLIZ has compiled the existing scientific knowledge on the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in the context of the Flemish beaches. In addition, knowledge gaps were detected that should be addressed in the short term.

The scientific project Coastbusters will receive follow-up funding to further investigate how cleverly constructed mussel beds can help combat coastal erosion and weaken the power of crashing waves. The construction of biogenic reefs as hydraulic engineering in coastal defence is a highly innovative concept. According to the project partners, it is relevant to investigate this further and to find out whether the concept can be added to the arsenal of sustainable techniques to protect our coast against rising sea levels. With the help of its marine robotics and 'smart moorings', VLIZ will monitor the large-scale evolution and small-scale dynamics of the mussel reefs.

Following the North Sea Vision 2050 process and the first working group cycle that took place in 2019, the Think Tank North Sea is ready to start a second cycle. From now on, interested parties will be able to submit relevant themes that the think tank will address. All burning topics concerning the North Sea can be suggested here.

In Ostend, the new Ostend Science Park has been launched, the first and most innovative marine science park in Belgium. The park aims to boost blue growth by offering state-of-the-art research and testing facilities to companies and researchers. Ostend Science Park is an initiative of the Port of Ostend, UGent and POM West Flanders.

In a new report, the European Parliament outlines the scope of the blue economy in Europe. The report provides an overview of the main socio-economic features for each of the sea basins. The document also looks at the factors driving the EU blue economy. The aim of the report is to support policy makers and stakeholders in the sustainable development of the ocean and coastal resources.

To measure concentrations of CO₂ in the ocean surface and sub-surface waters, a whole new generation of sensors and instruments entered the market in recent years. An intercomparison of all these systems seemed necessary to the Ocean Thematic Centre (OTC) of the European research infrastructure ICOS (in full: Integrated Carbon Observation System). Hence, all interested scientists, operators and manufacturers of pCO₂ sensors are kindly invited to participate in the first intercomparison exercise of ocean pCO₂ instruments, held between 24 August and 4 September 2020 at the Flanders Marine Institute VLIZ in Ostend, Belgium.

On Wednesday 29 April 2020, the European Marine Board will organise the 7th EMB Forum on  'Big Data'. At the event, representatives from policy, industry, NGO's and science will discuss with data specialists with the aim of exploring how big data can be used now and in the future to support marine scientific research. The EMB Future Science Brief n°6 'Big Data in Marine Science' will also be launched during the forum. This paper will provide an assessment of the current status, challenges and solutions for the implementation of the Big Data approach in support of marine science.