Session abstracts

Marine Biodiversity & Ecosystem Functioning

Marine biodiversity underpins the structure, functioning, and resilience of ocean ecosystems. This session focuses on patterns and drivers of biodiversity across spatial and temporal scales, and on how biological diversity influences ecosystem processes, stability, and services. We welcome contributions addressing biodiversity from genes to ecosystems, including studies on community structure, species interactions, functional traits, trophic dynamics, habitat complexity, and shifts in species distributions and community composition in coastal, pelagic, and deep-sea systems. Empirical, experimental, and modelling approaches are encouraged, as well as long-term observations and comparative studies that improve our understanding of how biodiversity responds to and shapes ecosystem functioning under natural and human-driven change.

Global Change and Multiple Stressors in Ocean Health

Ocean ecosystems are increasingly exposed to complex mixtures of chemical contaminants and climate-driven stressors, posing significant risks to marine environmental health. This session focuses on marine ecotoxicology under global change, inviting contributions that examine the effects of anthropogenic stressors pollutants including emerging contaminants, and in interaction with ocean warming, acidification, deoxygenation, and other global change drivers.

We welcome studies addressing toxicological responses from molecular and cellular mechanisms to population-level consequences, including mixture effects, cumulative impacts, and non-linear stressor interactions. Contributions employing experimental, field-based, and modelling approaches are encouraged, particularly those using advanced biomonitoring tools (e.g., OMICS, biomarkers), adverse outcome pathways (AOPs), predictive modelling, machine learning, and other New Approach Methods (NAMs). Research with clear implications for environmental risk assessment, ecosystem evaluation, and evidence-based marine management is especially welcome.

Marine Conservation, Management & Policy

Effective conservation and sustainable management rely on strong scientific evidence and close links between science and policy. This session focuses on research supporting marine conservation planning, marine protected areas (MPAs), ecosystem-based management, restoration, and policy development in a rapidly changing ocean.

We welcome contributions addressing the design, implementation, and evaluation of conservation and management measures, including MPA effectiveness, ecosystem-based and adaptive management, cumulative impact assessment, and marine spatial planning. Studies exploring how scientific knowledge is translated into governance and decision-making at local, regional, and European scales are particularly encouraged.

Special emphasis will be given to work aligned with current European priorities, such as the Biodiversity Strategy 2030, restoration targets, and the integration of climate change into conservation and management. Contributions highlighting science–policy interfaces, stakeholder participation, and the use of advanced monitoring, modelling, and data platforms to support evidence-based governance are especially welcome.

Sustainable Food Production and Fisheries

Marine living resources are essential for global food security and socio-economic wellbeing. This session focuses on research supporting the sustainable production of seafood through fisheries and aquaculture, within an ecosystem-based and climate-aware management framework.

We welcome contributions addressing stock assessment, ecosystem-based fisheries management, selective and low-impact fishing technologies, bycatch and discard reduction, and the integration of environmental drivers into management models. Studies on sustainable aquaculture, including alternative feeds, integrated multi-trophic aquaculture, spatial planning for aquaculture, and mitigation of environmental impacts are particularly encouraged.

Special emphasis will be given to work aligned with current European advances, including the implementation of the Common Fisheries Policy, the use of advanced monitoring and data platforms, incorporation of socio-economic dimensions into management, and the development of low-carbon and resource-efficient seafood production systems. Contributions demonstrating how science informs adaptive, evidence-based, and participatory management are especially welcome.

Blue Biotech Innovations: From Marine Biodiversity to Bioactive Solutions

Marine organisms represent an extraordinary source of novel compounds, materials, and biotechnological solutions for a wide range of applications. This session focuses particularly on marine-derived bioactive compounds for health, pharmaceuticals, and sustainable materials, as well as on innovative bioprocesses that translate marine biodiversity into high-value products. We welcome contributions to bioprospecting, natural product discovery, genome mining, metabolomics, and synthetic biology, together with studies on marine enzymes, biomaterials, biopolymers, and industrial biotechnology. Interdisciplinary approaches bridging marine biology, chemistry, biotechnology, and engineering are especially encouraged, as are contributions addressing sustainable and responsible exploitation of marine bioresources.

Citizen Science and Participatory Monitoring

Public participation is increasingly recognised as a central component of marine research, monitoring, and management. This session invites contributions to citizen science initiatives and participatory monitoring programmes that generate robust and policy-relevant data and foster strong links between scientists, stakeholders, and society. We welcome studies addressing co-created monitoring schemes, integration of citizen science into official monitoring frameworks, and the use of local and traditional ecological knowledge. Emphasis will be given to advances in digital tools, mobile applications, and online platforms, as well as the application of artificial intelligence for species identification and data validation, approaches to ensure data quality and uncertainty assessment, and long-term community-based monitoring. Contributions demonstrating how citizen science supports marine conservation, resource management, restoration, and policymaking are especially encouraged.