Today, over 670 observation platforms for the coastal environment are spread across Europe, from the Norwegian Sea to the Mediterranean. To harmonize these observation and research capabilities, 39 European scientific partners are working together to build the JERICO transnational research infrastructure. The aim: to observe the coastal ocean from every angle, and to study in greater detail rare or extreme phenomena, such as marine heat waves or storms, and their impacts. From June 17 to 21, they met in Brest to mark the end of the third phase of JERICO's development, with a view to its continued existence by 2030.

Through the Meiodyssea project, scientists from IFREMER, in collaboration with teams from JAMSTEC in Japan, Naturalis Biodiversity Center in the Netherland and Senckenberg Natural History Museum in Germany, are taking on the challenge of describing 125 to 200 new species of meiofauna, small organisms measuring less than a millimeter that nest in sediments, in the 5 oceans. Combining high-resolution 3D imaging and artificial intelligence, this ambitious project, funded by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, aims to fill our knowledge gap on the diversity, ecology and evolutionary history of invisible marine fauna, to facilitate the conservation of vulnerable marine ecosystems.

A new model, developed by Ifremer and Lausanne University researchers and published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, reassesses the proportion of terrestrial and marine species threatened with extinction by climate change. While the forecasts of traditional models estimate that the diversity of terrestrial species in tropical areas could decrease by 54% between now and 2041-2060, this model is more moderate, predicting a decrease of 39%. Nevertheless, this proportion remains alarming and confirms the importance of taking urgent measures to mitigate climate change and its impact on biodiversity. 

The Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census – a global alliance dedicated to the discovery and protection of marine life – is proud to announce its partnership with French marine research institute, IFREMER. The collaboration will accelerate the pace of discovery through knowledge-sharing activities, joint research, and the transfer of cyber-taxonomy protocols.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Dec. 3, 2023) – Today, leaders at two of the world’s leading ocean science institutions signed a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) extending their working partnership in the exploration, study, and protection of the world’s oceans.

After the first tomatoes, salads and potatoes have been grown in space, will astronauts soon raise fish aboard the ISS or on the Moon? That is the challenge of the Lunar Hatch mission carried out by IFREMER.

IFREMER, ISSS and MEP Jutta Paulus are organising the webinar “Marine Test Sites, strengthening the links between Research, Innovation and Industry for a Sustainable Blue Economy” on 26/09/2023 at 15h CEST (1 hour webinar), together with speakers from ENEA, Hydroquest and North Sea Farmers (in partnership with TNO).

In early May, scientists from the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (IFREMER) and the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) installed a new underwater observation system to study the seamounts in the Coral Sea, south of New Caledonia. It will help develop a new generation of multidisciplinary deep-sea observatories.

Understanding whether slow slip along fault boundaries is likely to eventually cause a high-magnitude earthquake is essential in assessing seismic hazards. A study recently published by Ifremer in the journal Nature Communications clearly characterizes the phenomena associated with slow earthquakes further to the analysis of water pressure in marine sediments.