GENERAL INFO

The Central Institute for scientific and technological Research Applied to the Sea (ICRAM) is a Public Institute for Research established according to the Law No. 41/1982, under the control of the Ministry of Environment. This Institute, where 53 people work, comprises a main office in Rome and two branches, established in 1991, one in Chioggia and the other one in Palermo.

The choice of creating the two branches of ICRAM is closely related to the plan of decentralizing the activities by building up field structures in areas considered strategic for such types of research. From this viewpoint, the choice of the Chioggia area is justified.

Chioggia, infact, is the center of an area remarkably important for fishing activities; it is sufficient to think of the Lagoon of Venice and the fisheries in the Northern Adriatic Sea. Moreover, Chioggia is the seat of flourishing and important structures for fishing production and processing, which render it as one of the most active marine centers in the Country. Therefore, it is one of the most qualified places for experimenting and realizing those changes needed by the compartment. On the other hand, such areas are subject to particular conditions of environmental stress, implying a close relationship between the study of environmental conditions and fishery biology and technology.

The main research fields the structure works on are: effects of anthropic input on biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and trace metals; development of methods for analyses applied to the studies on marine environment; coastal monitoring; biology of fisheries and aquaculture; fish stock assessment; impact of fishing activities on marine and lagoon environments.

ICRAM in Chioggia carry out field and laboratory research activities and offer scientific and technical assistance to operators by spreading the knowledge and experience acquired. Besides, such types of experience are made known through the presence of ICRAM at professional training activities thanks to collaborations with local Institutions, such as the Technical School "G. Cini", National Organizations of the Fishermen's Associations and Universities of Venice and Padua.

The presence of ICRAM is contextual to few other qualified scientific structures, such as the Hydrobiological Station of the Biology Department of the University of Padua, an active collaboration is in progress with. Moreover, ICRAM collaborate with other local scientific institutions such as the Environmental Science Department of the University of Venice, the Institute of Marine Biology of C.N.R. in Venice and the Departments of Biology and Analytical Chemistry of the University of Padua.

Internationally, active collaborations are presently in progress with the Plymouth Marine Laboratory of NERC in Great Britain, the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO), the Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries in Spalato (Croatia), IFREMER (France), etc