Discover the film on sustainable fishing in the Mediterranean supported by the laboratory ECOMERS.

This film was made thanks to the initiative of the regional federation France Nature Environment (FNE) and with the scientific support of ECOMERS lab. It aims at explaining the way artisanal fishing works and, based on the scientific work of the lab, at showing the importance of this fishing practices in the context of sustainable management of the coastal zone.

For more than 40 years, FNE PACA coordinate (through its departmental federations) the Associations for Protection of Nature and Environment in the Provence 'Alpes Côte d'Azur' to implement sustainable development in the territories.
Current policies at national or European level are biased tomainly address to industrial fisheries (mainly offshore) and often do not take into account artisanal fisheries. However, the latter is a fishery that, for centuries, practiced sustainable fishing, long before this term have been brought up to date.

ECOMERS scientists work since long on the subject of artisanal fishing and helped demonstrate, through their scientific papers published in international journals, the importance of these practices for the sustainable management of the coastal zone. Through this film, ECOMERS communicates the studies carried on this activity. Considering the reduced number of laboratories working in the French Mediterranean on the ecology of coastal areas, ECOMERS is the main laboratory to do research on this topic.

This project has the support of a number of managers of marine protected areas (Frédéric Bachet, Marine Park of the Blue Coast, which is involved in the film), artisanal fishermen associations (in France called 'prud'homies' ; Elisabeth Tempier Prud'homie Sanary, in the film) and, in general, a number of individual artisanal fishermen.

Voir le film

The family Tetraodontidae includes highly toxic species such as the famous Japanese fugu. Several species live in the Mediterranean. Some came through the Suez Canal and are present throughout the eastern basin of the Mediterranean, such as Lagocephalus sceleratus. Other species have an uncertain origin: native of the Mediterranean, or entered from the Atlantic or Red Sea? This is the case of Sphoeroides pachygaster.

(by P. Francour)

This species was not known the French Mediterranean coast yet. On May 9th, 2014, this fish was caught at Vauban harbour, Antibes. It was determined by Patrice Francour and is currently preserved at the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco.
You will find in the Nice Matin article details about the capture. This is an example of how citiziens may help scientists in recording new species.

Job offer – Compilation and collaboration to analysis of underwater visual census and small scale fisheries landings data

In the framework of the FishMPAblue2 European project, the ECOMERS laboratory (FRE3927, University of Nice Sophia Antipolis & CNRS) open a job offer for Compilation and analysis of underwater visual census and small scale fisheries landings data.

Overview:

The University of Nice Sophia Antipolis (UNS) is an interdisciplinary university receiving every year more than 25,000 students. It comprises approximately 1600 academics and 1100 administrative staff. The institutional scopes of the UNS are research and education. UNS encompasses 44 research laboratories and is ranked in the top 3% universities worldwide (Shangai academic ranking).

The lab ECOMERS is specialized in fundamental and applied marine ecology. Most of the research work is carried out in the Mediterranean Sea and addresses both theoretical (ecosystem functioning, biology and ecology of species and communities; bioecological changes under the influence of climate change) and applied issues (ecosystem-wide conservation and assessment; marine protected areas; management of human activities in coastal areas; sustainable small scale fishing; ecotoxicological bio-surveillance).

Context of the project:

FishMPABlue2 project is the follow-up of the FishMPABlue project funded by Interreg MED Programme 2007-2013 (from now on: FishMPABlue 1).

FishMPABlue 1 carried out an analysis (based on literature review and questionnaires answer by MPA’s managers) on the management of small scale fishery (SSF) within and around a set of Mediterranean MPAs, and developed the so called “regional-based governance toolkit” of potential measures for SSF governance in and around MPAs (i.e. composed by multiple key-elements, also called “tools”, see FishMPABlue 1 outputs) enabling MPAs to reach successful management of SSF. More specifically FishMPABlue 1 highlighted that fish stocks are healthier, fishermen incomes are higher and the social acceptance of management practices is promoted (so overall a successful management of SSF is reached) if a set of elements is present in a MPA (e.g. high MPA enforcement, presence of a management plan, high fishermen engagement in MPA management, fishermen representative in the MPA board, and promotion of sustainable fishing).

The aims of FishMPABlue 2 projects are:

- to test the governance toolkit (i.e. by implementing these elements or increasing their level) through multiple Pilot Actions in selected MPAs

- to assess and quantify its effectiveness in achieving expected results in terms of MPA ecological effectiveness, benefits delivered to SSF and social acceptance of management measures by stakeholders.

Position summary:

Working closely with the project and laboratory team members, the role of the recruited person will involve (but it will be not limited to) the following:

- compilation of underwater visual census data from multiple Mediterranean marine protected areas

- compilation of small scale fisheries landing data from 11 Mediterranean MPAs and surrounding unprotected areas

- collaboration in analysis of both previous dataset

- collaboration in writing reports and scientific papers

Qualifications and experience required:

Master in marine ecology or related fields.

Previous experience working in marine conservation and compilation of ecological datasets.

Duration of the contract and remuneration:

The contract will run for a duration of 6 months. The remuneration will be in according to University salary indexes

How to apply:

A Curriculum Vitae and letter of application, summarizing experience and skill set applicable to the position should be emailed to paolo.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . All correspondence for this position should quote reference FishMPABlue2_Data-analysis/Sep 2018.

Closing date for applications:

All applications for this position should be received in advance of 5pm on 28th September 2018. Please note that late applications will not be accepted. Selected candidate will be hopefully notified on 26th September 2018.