News

Every day taxonomists are busy in labs, museums and the field, to collecting, cataloguing, identifying, comparing, describing and naming species new to science. Some 300 taxonomists globally contribute their valuable time to keeping the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS – www.marinespecies.org) up to date. Today 19 March, on World Taxonomist Appreciation day, we wants to celebrate our...

The aquaculture sector is growing rapidly worldwide, up to 8% per year. When culture activities take place in the sea or the coastal zone, there is a risk that parts of the installations will come loose or that operational materials end up as litter in the marine environment. Completely in line with the European objective to drastically reduce plastics in the sea, the AQUA-LIT project aims to...

The VLIZ library has written a new acquisition management plan. Aside from a description of the library’s history, the collection’s content and acquisition strategy are clearly defined. A new classification scheme is also proposed and the services are analyzed. The plan is an important step to professionalize, and to clarify the importance of the marine library for Flemish marine scientific...

Each year VLIZ recruits several students working for us in the months of July, August or September. Interested student employees may send a CV, letter of motivation and preference for period and activity or division on 30 April 2019 at the latest.

Breathing in sea air helps to fight cancer and to prevent high cholesterol. This is shown by research by Ghent University and the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) as published in the scientific journal Scientific Reports today.

The new, orange coloured data loggers that are used within the LifeWatch program to gain more insight into the migratory routes of the European eels Anguilla Anguilla are easily found by beachcombers and tourists. By putting all captured temperature and depth data together, we will learn more about the behavior of this critically endangered species during its migration through the English Channel.

The Atlas of European Marine Life presents a range of new and innovative data products on marine life in European waters. The offered tools, models and maps illustrate the diverse range of outputs that can be generated from EMODnet Biology hosted data. The data products help to answer fundamental and policy-driven questions related to managing the natural and anthropogenic impacts in European...

With the launch of the Compendium for Coast and Sea 2018, the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) has reached the third edition of this multifunctional guide for marine experts. Main aim is to encompass the dispersive information from the Flemish-Belgian marine sciences in a scientific and neutral way, but all publications were thoroughly revised – working intensively together with an extensive...

The remains of the wars in Europe can still be found on the seabed of the North Sea today. The many wrecks of ships and planes, often with their fuel and ammunition on board, testify to these turbulent times. But in the North Sea a lot of new economic activities (wind farms, aquaculture, coastal defenses ...) unfold in the context of Blue Growth. In order for these new maritime developments to...

In order to coordinate marine research and innovation even better, the Baltic states and some North Sea countries have decided to work together more closely. The European-funded BANOS coordination and support action (BAltic and NOrth Sea Coordination and Support Action) will outline a joint research and innovation programme for the North Sea and the Baltic Sea over the next three years. The...

On Tuesday the 15th of October, a team consisting of Sven van Haelst from the Flanders Marine Institute VLIZ, Jessica Vandevelde from the Flanders Heritage Agency (Onroerend Erfgoed) and Robert de Hoop from the Dutch Maritime Heritage Agency did a survey on the wreck of the Dutch East India Company ship ‘t Vliegent Hart lying in Belgian waters.

The 2018 edition of the culinary contest Olivier Roellinger is officially launched now. The competition is open to young and future chefs who want to contribute to the conservation of marine resources and the protection of the seas and ocean. Deadline for submission is due 4 January. The Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) is partner and hopes to welcome a lot of applications from Belgium and The...

Earlier this month, 20 history students from Ghent University started their historical research seminar working with material offered by the VLIZ project ' Southern Netherlandish Prize Papers Research'. During the entire academic year, the students will sharpen their research skills and in the meantime contribute to the transcription and interpretation of documents found on ships once privateered...

VLIZ launches the call for the ‘Brilliant Marine Research Ideas 2019’ intended to inspire and enable PhD students, affiliated to a Flemish university or Flemish university college, to execute a brilliant idea during their PhD within the frame of their research. Deadline for the submission of proposals is 15 December 2018.

To recognize the work of meritorious marine researchers, encourage them to continue doing this in the future, and promote marine scientific research in Flanders: that is what the Flanders Marine Institute wants to achieve with its annual science awards. Until 15 December, candidates for the VLIZ North Sea Award, VLIZ Master Thesis Awards and VLIZ Bachelor Thesis Award can register for the 2018...

From 17 to 21 September 2018, the Flanders Marine Institute and LifeWatch Belgium organized the 53rd European Marine Biology Symposium (EMBS53) in Ostend, Belgium. Five days full of presentations on historical, contemporary and future marine biological research. With talks and posters divided into four major themes: 'Science in a historical perspective', 'Science in the North Sea', 'Science in the...

In the weekend of 29 and 30 September, the Flanders Marine Institute was present at SuperNova in Antwerp, Belgium. Our booth was announced as one of the highlights of the festival. Young and old could get acquainted with our marine robotics and even pilot a mini underwater robot themselves.

In 2100, a cubic meter of ocean water will contain 10 to 50 free-floating particles of microplastic, or fifty times more than today. Although these average concentrations are significantly lower than the safe concentrations for oceanic ecosystems (i.e. 6650 plastic particles per m3), local exceedings of this threshold are already possible. Coastal seabeds and beaches threaten to contain...