Cooperation to recover cockle fisheries and their ecosystem services in the Atlantic Area

Programme 2014 - 2020 INTERREG VB Atlantic Area

Date of latest update: 2023-03-02

Description

Description (EN):

Cockles provides meaningful environmental, societal, cultural, as well as economic benefits to coastal communities in the five Atlantic Area countries, but are threatened by disease and sub-optimal management. The Cockles project will restore production and the services provided by this emblematic resource, threatened by disease outbreaks and suboptimal management. Developing aquaculture, resistant strains and recovering natural stocks, optimizing management and upskilling stakeholders will aid recovering resources, increase the understanding of ecosystem services and boost coastal economies of Atlantic Area. This project has the following objectives: - To assess the health, diversity and inter-relationships of cockle populations across the Atlantic Area by characterising population dynamics, genetic diversity and larval transport, threats from disease, pollution, invasive species and climate; -To quantify the wider economic, societal and cultural benefits from ecosystem services provided by cockles (fishery, aquaculture, biodiversity, food for birds, tourism, cultural services), by surveys, interviews and socio-economic analysis; -To provide new techniques for cockle management by developing new technology and procedures for cockle bed restoration, hatchery technology for seed production, selective breeding programmes to produce disease-resistant and fast growing strains, and conservation of genetic structure/diversity; -To provide guidance on best practice for producers, administrations, environmental agencies, and NGOs, by evaluating and sharing best practice across the Atlantic Area and optimizing management through mutual learning. This will result in improved cockle production, a strong, viable and sustainable industry, with recognised societal and biodiversity benefits.

Achievements (EN):

Cockles have meaningful environmental, societal, cultural, as well as economic benefits to coastal Atlantic communities, they’re a delicacy of the Atlantic gastronomy and an asset for tourism. In terms of protected areas, the cockle is a key species for many top predators, such as finfish or waders. The COCKLES project produced outcomes and tools that can be used to restore and increase cockle production and the services it provides in the Atlantic Area. It was possible to assess the health, diversity, and inter-relationships of cockle populations across the Atlantic regions by characterising population dynamics, genetic diversity, and larval transport. Genetics research provided the basis for resistant strains and for the conservation of the genetic diversity of the populations, both at macroscale and with a case study at a lower scale in Galicia. Major threats were identified and characterised, such as diseases and invasive species. A comprehensive set of guidance, data tools, and documents gathering also best practices for producers, administrations, and environmental agencies were produced. The knowledge on such products was capitalised and disseminated to key stakeholders, especially represented by the associated partners. They increased their capacity to exploit the available scientific knowledge and to manage this valuable resource under more sustainable patterns. The societal and cultural benefits from ecosystem services provided by cockles were assessed, quantified, and transformed into a user-friendly spreadsheet tool. COCKLES partners were also able to deliver guidance and knowledge sharing through mutual learning, especially happening through project meetings, stakeholder workshops, training, and conferences. Joining research efforts, sharing best practices and knowledge across the Atlantic partners, involving stakeholders, led to more sustainable management and enhanced the appreciation of the cockles within the Atlantic Area regions. "The project is an excellent example of the contribution that scientific analysis can make to the protection of biodiversity” extract of the report from the visit of the European Court of Auditors to the COCKLES project.

Website: http://www.atlanticarea.eu/

Expected Results (EN):

- The value of cockles as an emblematic natural resource for Atlantic Area coastal communities will be enhanced for all targets: producers, resource managers, authorities and other key actors from related sectors. - New/improved management plans, aiding the implementation of wider policies, will benefit from the updated science-base; - Improve the capacity to increase aquaculture production, with reliable protocols for hatchery and on-growing sites, including the start of selective breeding programs for resistant cockle strains; - Resilience to climate change and capacity to anticipate and adapt to future environmental and management scenarios will also be gained.

Expected Outputs (EN):

- Datasets, interactive maps, reports and spreadsheet tools with integrated information about the situation of cockle populations, the ecosystem services they provide and their value for society - Operational tools based on mathematical models, to understand larval dispersal; risk maps to tackle major threats and evidence on the effects and interactions of cockles to the coastal environment; - Reliable protocols for hatchery and on-growing sites; - Combining the data obtained and the modelling tools, will inform and allow the testing of the changing scenarios; - Capitalization actions (including empowerment actions, development of user-friendly visualisation tools, pilot experiences and co-creation of management plans) for wide dissemination and exchange.

Thematic information

Sustainable management of natural resources Agriculture and fisheries and forestry

Specific Objective: Improving the protection of biodiversity and enhancing ecosystem services

Thematic Objective: (06) preserving and protecting the environment and promoting resource efficiency by:

Investment Priority: (06d) Protecting and restoring biodiversity and soil and promoting ecosystem services, including through Natura 2000, and green infrastructure

Partners (12)

Lead Partner: Centro Tecnológico del Mar, Fundación CETMAR

Address: Vigo, Spain

Legal status: public

Total budget: EUR 335 157.64

ERDF budget: EUR 251 368.23

NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Bangor

Name: NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Bangor

Address: Wallingford, United Kingdom

Legal status: public

Total budget: EUR 251 500.00

ERDF budget: EUR 188 625.00

Bangor University

Name: Bangor University

Address: Bangor, United Kingdom

Legal status: public

Total budget: EUR 381 120.00

ERDF budget: EUR 285 840.00

Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera, I.P.

Name: Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera, I.P.

Address: Lisboa, Portugal

Legal status: public

Total budget: EUR 250 552.00

ERDF budget: EUR 187 914.00

Consellería do Mar, Xunta de Galicia

Name: Consellería do Mar, Xunta de Galicia

Address: Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Legal status: public

Total budget: EUR 310 977.92

ERDF budget: EUR 233 233.44

Universidade de Santiago de Compostela

Name: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela

Address: Lugo, Spain

Legal status: public

Total budget: EUR 344 389.00

ERDF budget: EUR 258 291.75

University College Cork

Name: University College Cork

Address: Cork, Ireland

Legal status: public

Total budget: EUR 319 681.84

ERDF budget: EUR 239 761.38

Departamento de Ambiente e Ordenamento

Name: Departamento de Ambiente e Ordenamento

Address: Aveiro, Portugal

Legal status: public

Total budget: EUR 304 152.04

ERDF budget: EUR 228 114.03

Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa

Name: Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa

Address: Lisboa, Portugal

Legal status: public

Total budget: EUR 249 774.80

ERDF budget: EUR 187 331.10

UNIVERSITE DE BORDEAUX

Name: UNIVERSITE DE BORDEAUX

Address: Bordeaux, France

Legal status: public

Total budget: EUR 490 236.00

ERDF budget: EUR 367 677.00

Groupe d'Etude des Milieux Estuariens et Littoraux

Name: Groupe d'Etude des Milieux Estuariens et Littoraux

Address: Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, France

Legal status: private

Total budget: EUR 139 880.00

ERDF budget: EUR 104 910.00

Université de Caen Normandie

Name: Université de Caen Normandie

Address: Caen, France

Legal status: public

Total budget: EUR 238 156.36

ERDF budget: EUR 178 617.27

Partners map

Lead partner

Project partner

Summary

Project name (EN): Cooperation to recover cockle fisheries and their ecosystem services in the Atlantic Area

Project name (ES): Cooperación para recuperar las pesquerías de berberecho y sus servicios de ecosistema en el Espacio Atlántico

Project name (PT): Cooperação para a recuperação das pescarias de berbigão e os seus serviços de ecossistema no Espaço Atlântico

Project name (FR): Coopération pour la restauration des pêcheries de coques et de leurs services d'écosystème dans l’Espace Atlantique

Project acronym: COCKLES

Project start date: 2017-10-01

Project end date: 2020-09-30

Project status: closed

Total budget/expenditure: EUR 3 615 577.60

Total EU funding (amount): EUR 2 711 683.20

Co-financing sources:

ERDF: Amount, EUR 2 711 683.20.

Documents

Documents on this project are listed below, and organised by category. Please note field "Data source", attached to each document. Keep.eu users are free to use these documents as long as they mention the data source and keep.eu.

Videos / films

COCKLES Project

Attachment type: link

Type of document: Video / film

Data source: https://www.atlanticarea.eu/

Publication date: 2021-03-24

Document date: 2020-11-12

Languages: en

COCKLES Project (subtitles available for ES, EN, FR, PT)

Attachment type: link

Type of document: Video / film

Data source: https://www.atlanticarea.eu/

Publication date: 2021-03-24

Document date: 2019-10-18

Languages: en

Studies / surveys

Non-indigenous species in soft-sediments: Are some estuaries more invaded than others?

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Study / survey

Data source: https://www.atlanticarea.eu/

Publication date: 2021-03-24

Document date: 2019-08-09

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Large scale patterns of trematode parasite communities infecting Cerastoderma edule along the Atlantic coast from Portugal to Morocco

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Study / survey

Data source: https://www.atlanticarea.eu/

Publication date: 2021-03-24

Document date: 2019-12-15

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Temporal dynamics of infection of cockles Cerastoderma edule with the protistan parasite Minchinia tapetis (Rhizaria: Haplosporida) in Galicia (NW Spain)

Attachment type: link

Type of document: Study / survey

Data source: https://www.atlanticarea.eu/

Publication date: 2021-03-24

Document date: 2020-02-28

Languages: en

Attachment link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022201120300550?via%3Dihub

Ecosystem services provided by a non-cultured shellfish species: The common cockle Cerastoderma edule

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Study / survey

Data source: https://www.atlanticarea.eu/

Publication date: 2021-03-24

Document date: 2020-02-26

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Monorchis parvus and Gymnophallus choledochus: two trematode species infecting cockles as first and second intermediate host

Attachment type: link

Type of document: Study / survey

Data source: https://www.atlanticarea.eu/

Publication date: 2021-03-24

Document date: 2020-03-04

Languages: en

Attachment link: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/parasitology/article/abs/monorchis-parvus-and-gymnophallus-choledochus-two-trematode-species-infecting-cockles-as-first-and-second-intermediate-host/81257E075D2FA19D975DF0F17D79BA10

Fine-scale seascape genomics of an exploited marine species, the common cockle Cerastoderma edule, using a multimodelling approach

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Study / survey

Data source: https://www.atlanticarea.eu/

Publication date: 2021-03-24

Document date: 2020-01-21

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Does parasitism influence sediment stability? Evaluation of traitmediated effects of the trematode Bucephalus minimus on the key role of cockles Cerastoderma edule in sediment erosion dynamics

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Study / survey

Data source: https://www.atlanticarea.eu/

Publication date: 2021-03-24

Document date: 2020-09-30

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

A Useful SNP Panel to Distinguish Two Cockle Species, Cerastoderma edule and C. glaucum, Co-Occurring in Some European Beds, and Their Putative Hybrids

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Study / survey

Data source: https://www.atlanticarea.eu/

Publication date: 2021-03-24

Document date: 2019-09-27

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Spatio-temporal variation of trematode parasites community in Cerastoderma edule cockles from Ria de Aveiro (Portugal)

Attachment type: link

Type of document: Study / survey

Data source: https://www.atlanticarea.eu/

Publication date: 2021-03-24

Document date: 2018-02-24

Languages: en

Attachment link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013935118300860?via%3Dihub

Trematode infection modulates cockles biochemical response to climate change

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Study / survey

Data source: https://www.atlanticarea.eu/

Publication date: 2021-03-24

Document date: 2018-04-30

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Interactive effects of contamination and trematode infection in cockles biochemical performance

Attachment type: link

Type of document: Study / survey

Data source: https://www.atlanticarea.eu/

Publication date: 2021-03-24

Document date: 2018-09-22

Languages: en

Attachment link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0269749118321699?via%3Dihub

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Financing programme

2014 - 2020 INTERREG VB Atlantic Area

Last month that data in keep.eu was retrieved from the Programme's website or received from the Programme

2021-08-01

No. of projects in keep.eu / Total no. of projects (% of projects in keep.eu)

71 / 71 (100%)

No. of project partnerships in keep.eu / Total no. of project partnerships (% of project partnerships in keep.eu)

718 / 718 (100%)

Notes on the data

Information provided by the Programme. Achievements were retrieved by Interact from the Programme website (http://www.atlanticarea.eu/), or a website directly linked from it, on 2021-12-03, 2023-02-02 and 2024 01 30. Fields project name and description (from 23 projects) translated from Spanish into English using the European Commission's eTranslation machine translation service.

The projects which fields include an eTranslation English text are the ones with the following acronyms: @BluePortS, 4H-CREAT, ACCESS2SEA, AGEO, AGRITOX, ALERTOX-NET, AtlanticFoodExport, ATLANTIC-KET-MED, AT-VIRTUAL, AYCH, CABFishMAN, CircularSeas, COCKLES, CONSORTEX, FAN-BEST, iFADO, IN 4.0, JONAS, MONITOOL, NANOCULTURE, PROTOATLANTIC, SIRMA and USER-FACTOR.

The financial data featured in keep.eu for this programme, it's projects and its partners is not exact and should be taken as a reference only.

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Cooperation to recover cockle fisheries and their ecosystem services in the Atlantic Area

Description

Thematic information

Partners (12)

Partners map

Summary

Documents

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

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