Mission leaders: Yannick Guéguen, Emmanuel Tessier
One of the missions of the UMR MARBEC is to provide public policy-makers (European and international institutions, ministries, agencies, local authorities, decentralised government departments, etc.) with scientific and technical knowledge, tools and methods to inform, design, implement and evaluate public policies. The scientific knowledge produced by the UMR MARBEC on the marine biodiversity of lagoon, coastal and deep-sea, Mediterranean and tropical ecosystems is mobilised for expert appraisal, the production of opinions and scientific documents, and assistance in the development and implementation of public policies in an approach that anticipates societal challenges. This approach is one of the ways in which research can be promoted, as it is part of the continuum of scientific production and also contributes to research, with the emergence of new questions.
The more environmentally friendly use of marine and lagoon ecosystems and the involvement of various stakeholders in the decision-making process mean that the needs in terms of support for public policies are evolving towards more and more numerous and complex demands.
Marine biodiversity exploitation practices (fishing and aquaculture) must be evaluated using ecological and socio-economic indicators in order to measure the effectiveness of management measures for human activities in relation to the conservation of exploited species and the resilience of the ecosystems in which they live.
To this end, UMR MARBEC is involved in the scientific committees of Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs), in particular the Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean Tuna Commissions (ICCAT and IOTC) and the Mediterranean Fisheries Management Commission (MFMC).
It participates in the stock assessments of Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (Tuna Commissions and GFCM) as well as in the formulation of scientific advice to fisheries and aquaculture administrations (European, national and southern partner countries), to international organisations and to bodies involved in the management and conservation of marine biodiversity (e.g. marine protected areas).
The quality of water and exploited resources, and the rights and duties of marine genetic resources also fall within the scope of the UMR's public policy support activities. In Occitania, the UMR provides project management assistance to government services on the implementation of health monitoring systems for all coastal fishing and shellfish farming areas, and thus on the management of this activity, as well as on the deployment process for floating wind farms in the Mediterranean.