CIMA (Spain)
RTD PerformerThe Marine Research Centre (CIMA) is part of the Department of Fisheries and Marine Affairs of the Regional Government of Galicia. Staff members are more than 50 people including researchers, technicians and administrative staff. Research is mainly directed and applied to the reasonable and effective management of the renewable marine resources existing throughout the coast of the Autonomous Community of Galicia. Dr. José M. Fuentes is the responsible person within the BLUE SEED project. In the last 14 years he carried out several research projects about mussel biology, ecology and cultivation in Galicia (NW Spain) at the Centro de Investigacións Mariñas (CIMA). During the last decade, he has directed several studies on the relative effect, on growth rate, mortality and production of cultivated mussels, of several biological and environmental factors, such as the geographical source of seed, the type of seed (collector vs. intertidal), the site, depth, and density of cultivation, and the position of the ropes within the raft. His group has also studied the patterns of recruitment of mussel post-larvae on both rope collectors and intertidal beds. He has also led a study on the performance, under raft-suspended cultivation conditions, of mussels coming from several hatchery-produced crosses between M. edulis and M. galloprovincialis. In the last six years, his research team has been involved in several projects on the study of the temporal and spatial distribution of mussel larvae along the Galician coastline. In this context, they have developed the two first monoclonal antibodies for the identification of mussel larvae from plankton samples. At present, he is involved in an internal project of selective breeding of oysters, Ostrea edulis, for resistance to Bonamia ostreae, and he also participate in the EU-CRAFT project “Bonamia ostreae life cycle investigations, optimised production of resistant Ostrea edulis spat, and studies of oyster (Ostrea edulis) immune mechanisms” Dr. Antonio Villalba is working in CIMA on molluscan shellfish pathology since 1988, leading a research team on:
• Study of pathologic conditions affecting flat oysters, mussels, various clam species and cockles of the Galician coast, with emphasis on the effects on bivalve physiology and on mollusc industry. |
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