Contribution of Greece to the Mission Charter: Actions of HC

The Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR) is a public research organization supervised by the General Secretariat for Research and Innovation, of the Ministry for Development and Investments. The mission of HCMR is to conduct high-level basic and applied research in all areas related to the marine and freshwater environment, as well as the development and utilization of innovative products and services, the dissemination of results to society, and the training of young scientists. As such, HCMR’s horizontal mission and activities shows great compatibility with the objectives and enablers of the Mission Charter. The HCMR includes different and specialized institutes that tackle biodiversity, pollution, aquaculture, and other topics linked to the Mission as follows:
The Institute of Oceanography (IO) leads holistic oceanographic research from the coast to the deep sea mainly in the Mediterranean. The mission of the IO is to explore, describe, and understand the functioning of marine systems, as well as to perform long-term monitoring, and forecasting of various processes through interdisciplinary research. The IO coordinates the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, as well as it contributes the EU Water Framework Directive, and serves the protection of marine biodiversity, and marine food webs. The IO operates the POSEIDON Monitoring, Forecasting and Information System for the Greek Seas comprising a forecasting and a multiplatform observing component. The IO hosts the Hellenic National Oceanographic Data Centre (HNODC), and operates large databases holding a wealth of open multidisciplinary marine data.
The Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters (IMBRIW) is the leading institution in Greece on aspects related to fisheries, marine ecology and inland water research in the Mediterranean region and beyond. The mission of IMBRIW is to: support the conservation and management of aquatic biological resources, habitats and ecosystems, to provide advice and services to national, Mediterranean, EU and other International bodies on environmental conservation and management, and raise public awareness. The IMBRIW aims at the production of knowledge related to structural and functional aspects of inland and marine ecosystems, and the high trophic level components (including fisheries) of marine ecosystems, and the application of this knowledge for integrated river basin and coastal zone management, ecosystem-based fisheries management and biodiversity conservation.
The Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture (IMBBC) is the promotion of research and technological developments in the fields of biodiversity, structure, dynamics and management of ecosystems, genetics of marine organisms, the search for new products and organisms, as well as the authentication and origin identification of organisms and their products. In the area of Aquaculture, IMBBC conducts research, develops technology and know-how, and trains scientists in the aquaculture sector and related fields, such as physiology, pathology, ethology, metabolism and genetics, improvement of production and quality, interaction of aquaculture and environment, broodstock enhancement, production technology of aquafeed, selection and cultivation of new species, development of production systems for all developmental stages of cultivated organisms, as well as methodologies for the management of aquaria.