Ancona
The Ancona office was established in July 1968 as the Fisheries Technology Laboratory (LTP), with scientific expertise mainly related to the world of fishing in the Adriatic Sea. On July 3, 1968, the President of the CNR, Prof. Vincenzo Caglioti, and the President of the Ente Autonomo Fiera delle Pesca, Hon. Albertino Castellucci, signed the Convention by which the Ancona Fishing Fair relinquished free of charge the premises that were to house the Fishing Technology Laboratory. The ceremony is attended by numerous dignitaries, including the Chairman of the CNR Oceanographic Commission, the Chairman of the CNR Marine Resources Research Program and Director of the Fisheries Directorate of the Ministry of Merchant Marine (to which the fisheries sector belonged), the Secretary General of the Fair Board and the Secretary General of the CNR. The Laboratory is granted an endowment to purchase a research vessel, scientific equipment and to rent premises as a workshop, processing laboratory and storage of fishing nets and tools. In 1971, the direction of the Laboratory was given to Prof. Giovanni Bombace, who would remain Director for 25 years until 1996, when oceanographer Antonio Artegiani took over the directorship. The LTP’s early pioneering research is conducted with local leased fishing vessels, including the offshore m/p “Luiciotta” (a 30 m long iron ship) with 8 crew and 8 research personnel, which will later be acquired by the CNR and renamed to “Salvatore Lo Bianco” as a tribute to the marine biologist from the Naples Zoological Station. This was joined in 1971 by the boat “Tecnopesca I,” a small wooden boat of 8 m in length used for coastal research, which was followed by the “Tecnopesca II” in fiberglass, built in 1989 at the Tecnomatic shipyards in Ancona and still used today by the headquarters staff. Also as a result of the 1972 earthquake, which had partially damaged the premises in which the LTP was housed, it was decided to create a new and modern Headquarters in the Mandracchio area, which would be completed in 1974/1975. The design is based on a large central corridor 75 long overlooked by four large laboratories of about 50 square meters each and 26 studios; the Library and Meeting Room are located on the first of the structure. Research activities are organized into 4 Departments: Applied Fisheries Biology and Oceanography, Fishing Gear Technology, Fishing Vessel Technology, and Applied Electronics. The Laboratory staff did not exceed 30 at that time. In 1981, the LTP will become the Institute of Maritime Fisheries Research (IRPEM). On
October 12, 2001
, by the signature of CNR President Prof. Lucio Bianco, IRPEM merged into a larger Institute called ISMAR – Institute of Marine Sciences, born from the reorganization of CNR’s scientific network and composed of 6 more Locations and Headquarters in Venice. In this context, the ISMAR Ancona Branch maintains a strong tradition of scientific research on fisheries and fish stock management, but at the same time considerably expands its competencies and activities by becoming a multidisciplinary facility with expertise on physical, chemical and biological oceanography, marine microbiology and microbial ecology, marine biology, ecology and biogeochemistry, marine acoustics, and in general on anthropogenic impacts on marine biota and ecosystem. These activities are conducted both in the Mediterranean, with more focus on the Adriatic Sea, and in oceanic to polar areas. In September 2018, it became the Secondary Office of IRBIM CNR, of which it is now the largest Office with more than 90 staff in different roles.
Lesina
The Lesina site was established as the “Institute for the Biological Exploitation of Lagoons since 1968,” and later, on May 22, 1996 (CNR Order No. 13902), became the “Institute for the Study of Coastal Ecosystems.” Since its inception, research has been developed on hydrobiological aspects of lagoon and coastal waters, assessing biotic communities in the physical and chemical context of coastal and confined environments. Significant research in the past has involved artificial reproduction of fish species such as sea bream and sea bass, shrimp farming, and venericulture, developing advanced technologies to control captive breeding and larval rearing. In Lesina, the first experiments are conducted on the artificial reproduction and breeding of sea bream (Sparus aurata), sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), smallmouth bass (Atherina boyeri), shrimp (Penaeus japonicus), cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis), oysters (Ostrea edulis, Crassostrea gigas) and clams (Tapes decussatus, T. philippinarum) and the cultivation of micro- and macroalgae, as well as the management of lagoon water quality with the control and development of the phytoplankton system. For a long time, the HQ has maintained a bank of selected microalgal strains in use by the Italian scientific and business community, which has enabled the initiation and development of important commercial sectors in the aquaculture landscape. One example was the introduction and promotion of Philippine veracious clam (T. philippinarum) farming, which created an industry that is still very important today with a supply chain of thousands of workers. Additional fields of research have included the exploitation of agarogenic macroalgae of commercial interest and research in hyperhaline environments, such as the Margherita di Savoia Salt Pans. Since 1996, when the name of the Institute was changed, lines of research have been initiated mainly directed toward the study of the functioning of lagoon and coastal ecosystems having as a common goal the protection, control, conservation and recovery of these environments and their biodiversity, the assessment of the impact of human activities on coastal and lagoon ecosystems, and sustainable aquaculture. Like the Ancona Branch, the Lesina Branch also passes the
October 12, 2001
, by the signature of CNR President Prof. Lucio Bianco, into the Institute called ISMAR – Institute of Marine Sciences, becoming its Secondary Seat. In September 2018 he finally joined the new IRBIM Institute.
Mazara del Vallo
By decree of the President of the CNR, the Institute of Fishing and Fisheries Technology, later (1998) named the Institute for Research on Marine Resources and the Environment (IRMA), was established in Mazara del Vallo on January 29, 1981. Dr. Dino Levi, from the Fisheries Technology Laboratory in Ancona, accepted the position of director of the newly established Institute in Mazara and initiated its first statistical insights at the landings and vessels and then began trawl-survey work to assess the status of the demersal resources of the Sicilian Channel. Dino Levi will continue to head the Institute until 2004. The branch has always developed a strong interaction with its counterpart branch in Ancona dedicated to fisheries science. Since its founding, the Office has been concerned with assessing the size and productive capacity of fishery resources, with particular reference to demersal resources, their interactions with the environment, and the sustainability of fishing patterns. Alongside research on the biology and ecology of species of commercial interest, the activities of the Headquarters are aimed at providing technical and scientific support to companies in the fishing chain and to Administrations and Institutions, with a view to introducing research, development and innovation in catching processes, proposing more sustainable management models and developing new processes for the enhancement, traceability and quality of the catch. In light of the increasing focus on biodiversity and ecosystems, the Office has developed expertise in analyzing the species composition of demersal communities and trophic networks. The Facility is part of the network of Institutes that provide samples of marine organisms for advanced studies in population genetics, stable isotope analysis and environmental DNA analysis. Recently, the Office has expanded its research interests by dealing with sustainable and resilient integrated management of coastal areas. Since its origins it has counted a computer center for data management and organization and related release of processing services for the scientific community. Like the Messina Branch, the October 15, 2001 establishment of the
Institute for Coastal Marine Environment (IAMC)
headquartered in Naples, saw it merged into the new Institute, along with other institutes in the Mezzogiorno. The subsequent reorganization of the
NRC marine research institutes
in September 2018 places it in the IRBIM CNR Institute, of which it becomes Secondary Branch.
Messina
Law No. 442 dated 13/7/1910 establishes the“Royal Italian Thalassographic Committee with executive functions for the physical, chemical and biological study of the Italian seas, mainly in relation to the fishing navigation industry and for the exploration of the upper atmosphere in regard to air navigation.” At the urging of the Committee, as the first important initiative of the Italian government to develop research in marine biology, the Central Institute of Marine Biology was inaugurated on December 10, 1916, built in Messina in the most suitable and favorable location in the Mediterranean Sea and in the city that was laboriously rising from the rubble of the tremendous cataclysm of December 1908. The project is drawn up by the Army Corps of Engineers assisted by Professor Luigi Sanzo, destined to become its first Director. The Institute is equipped with innovative infrastructure and the most modern instrumentation available at the time. The construction financed by Law No. 599 of June 5, 1913 and started in 1914 with an appropriation “for five years, beginning with the 1912-1913 fiscal year, the sum of 20,000 lire for each fiscal year as a contribution to the construction de furnishing of the Institute“, was completed just two years later. The inaugural ceremony is attended by representatives of numerous national and international institutions. The inaugural speech was delivered by Senator of the Kingdom Vito Volterra, who said, “From its first inception, the Thalassographic Committee fixed its gaze on these safe shores, on this marvelous strait, which zoologists call the Earthly Paradise ….. What from before seemed like a dream is now a reality. The Institute now rises with its elegant and harmonious lines at this noble city that I reverently salute, which balda stood on its ruins. It rises equipped with the aids, instruments and furnishings necessary for scientific research and opens freely to scholars of marine life.”
In its early years, the Institute conducted fundamental research on marine biology, with particular reference to the marine teleosts of the Straits, morphology, anatomy, embryology, and ethology, as well as on fisheries issues, aimed particularly at large teleosts of particular economic interest such as tuna and swordfish. In those years, the Institute became one of the most prestigious international sea research centers, with important research being conducted on planktonic marine fauna, larvae and deep-sea organisms, thanks in part to the sophisticated state-of-the-art aquarium system that allowed organisms taken from surrounding waters to be kept alive. In 1929 the Institute passed, by Law No. 1179 of 6/27/1929, into the employ of the National Research Council. Later in 1941 it assumed the new name of Thalassographic Institute of Messina and, by Decree No. 82 of 1/3/1945 on the reorganization of the CNR, came under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. By the subsequent Law No. 625 of 1/7/1954 it became a Public Law Body and was given the final name of Experimental Thalassographic Institute of Messina. In 1977 (Presidential Decree No. 429 of 4/7/1977 it was again incorporated into the NRC, initially afferring to the National Committee for Biological and Medical Sciences and later to the National Committee for Environmental and Habitat Sciences and Technologies (1998). In 1995 it merged, following a reorganization process of the NRC, into the National Coordinating Institute for Marine Sciences (ISMARE). The reorganization of the NRC’s scientific network led on October 15, 2001 to the establishment of theInstitute for Coastal Marine Environment (IAMC) based in Naples, in which the Thalassographic Institute of Messina along with the “A. Cerruti” Institute of Taranto, the Geomare Sud Institute of Naples, the Institute of Marine Resources Research for the Environment of Mazara del Vallo and the Oristano Section of the Institute of Cybernetics and Biophysics converge. On this occasion, the research activities of the Headquarters are for the most part reorganized and brought back to the common theme of monitoring and safeguarding coastal marine environments, while maintaining active lines of research of great tradition such as those on fisheries biology and aquaculture and at the same time launching more frontier disciplines such as molecular microbiology, environmental biotechnology, and bioinformatics. The subsequent reorganization of the
NRC marine research institutes
in September 2018 places it in the IRBIM CNR Institute, of which it becomes the Main Office.