The first oceanographic campaign of the CNR’s Institute for Mediterranean Studies starts today, Thursday 16 February 2023, and will sail from the port of Syracuse in four days, covering the areas of the southern Ionian Sea, the Strait of Sicily and the southern Tyrrhenian Sea, until disembarking in Messina on the 19th. The aim is to carry out an in situ collection of mesozooplankton samples and to study its relationship with marine environmental conditions.

In particular, the oceanographic campaign will make it possible to study the spatial distribution of sardine spawning areas and to correlate them with environmental conditions, in order to investigate important aspects of the ecology of this species and contribute to the evaluation of a sustainable management plan for these resources.

Aboard CNR’s oceanographic ship Dallaporta, equipped with the most modern equipment to carry out research expeditions in the open sea, the campaign will be conducted under the scientific responsibility of Marco Torri, an ISMed researcher and expert in environmental biology and biodiversity.

La campagna è parte del SevenS research project, funded by the Region of Sicily. It is led by CNR-ISMed; partners are CNR-IRBIM of Mazara del Vallo and Messina; the University of Palermo, STEBICEF Department; the University of Catania, Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences.

For further information:

Marco Torri

CNR-ISMed

marco.torri@cnr.it