A. the study of marine biodiversity and ecosystems, integrating research to provide a sound scientific basis for assessment, management and policy related with marine ecosystems. This includes:
Characterizing the composition, abundance and distribution of the national marine biodiversity.
Monitoring and studying coastal and estuarine ecosystem functioning, and long-term changes in marine communities and habitats to determine the impacts of climate change and local human action.
Studying the genetics, population biology, ecology and recruitment of ecologically and commercially important species.
Determining the impacts of fishing at different levels, from genetics to ecosystems.
Investigating physiological adaptations of marine organisms.
B. Environmental chemistry and toxicology
Studying how does the chemical composition of a medium influence the responses of an organism in contact with it; and how do organisms affect the chemical composition of the surrounding medium.
C. Biology and Marine Biotechnologies
Extending fundamental knowledge about marine organisms at a molecular to whole organism level and across the evolutionary scale.
