The objective of FarFish is to improve knowledge on and management of EU fisheries outside Europe, while contributing to sustainability and long term profitability. 21% of EU catches originate from non-EU waters. These fisheries are often poorly regulated, management decisions are sometimes based on limited knowledge and enforcement capabilities, compliance and trust between stakeholders tend to lack. FarFish will address these shortcomings in a multidisciplinary and innovative way by focusing on six diverse case studies, four in Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA) waters and two in international waters. Firstly, FarFish will analyse biological, ecological, technological, economic, political and social impacts of EU fisheries in the case studies to advance knowledge and promote sustainable and profitable exploitation. Secondly, introduce Results-Based Management approaches and new decision support tools into these fisheries and test their applicability in collaboration with stakeholders. Thirdly, build capacities in fisheries management and related disciplines amongst stakeholders. The results of FarFish will both have immediate and long-term application. FarFish includes a diverse groups of stakeholders, EU and third country fleets representatives, scientists, decision makers, Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs), relevant industries and stakeholders from areas outside the case studies but of importance for the EU fleet, forming a platform for future cooperation between EU and third countries. FarFish addresses the work programme by improving knowledge within the relevant fisheries, developing management tools and models, improving professional skills and sharing new findings in correspondence to the priorities of SFPAs, RFMOs and the CFP. FarFish will contribute to sustainable management, resilience and efficiency in the seafood value chains, increase European food security, boost long-term profitability and promote jobs.

EurofleetsPlus will facilitate open access to an integrated and advanced research vessel fleet, designed to meet the evolving and challenging needs of the user community. European and international researchers from academia and industry will be able to apply for several access programmes, through a single-entry system. EurofleetsPlus will prioritise support for research on sustainable, clean and healthy oceans, linking with existing ocean observation infrastructures, and support innovation through working closely with industry. The project will enable access to a unique fleet of 27 state-of-the-art research vessels from European and international partners. Through competitive Calls, researchers will be able to access the entire North Atlantic, Mediterranean, Black Sea, North Sea, Baltic Sea, Pacific Southern Ocean and Ross Sea. In addition to ship time, researchers will also have access to new Autonomous Underwater Vehicles and Remotely Operated Vehicles. A unique portable telepresence system will enable remote access by researchers and diverse end users including the public; a first for Europe. In addition to comprehensive transnational activities, the project will undertake joint research activities to meet the evolving challenges of marine research, in particular, deep ocean research and exploration, data management, and virtual access. Multiple networking activities will ensure robust Call processes; wide stakeholder engagement; development of a strategic roadmap and long-term sustainability plan; diverse training and education activities; management of innovation; and widespread dissemination and communication. EurofleetsPlus will facilitate access to unique marine infrastructure, enabling excellent research, increasing ocean literacy, and providing a clear road map for the continued integration and advancement of the European research fleet.

Blue-Action will provide fundamental and empirically-grounded, executable science that quantifies and explains the role of a changing Arctic in increasing predictive capability of weather and climate of the Northern Hemisphere.To achieve this Blue-Action will take a transdisciplinary approach, bridging scientific understanding within Arctic climate, weather and risk management research, with key stakeholder knowledge of the impacts of climatic weather extremes and hazardous events; leading to the co-design of better services.This bridge will build on innovative statistical and dynamical approaches to predict weather and climate extremes. In dialogue with users, Blue-Arctic will take stock in existing knowledge about cross-sectoral impacts and vulnerabilities with respect to the occurrence of these events when associated to weather and climate predictions. Modeling and prediction capabilities will be enhanced by targeting firstly, lower latitude oceanic and atmospheric drivers of regional Arctic changes and secondly, Arctic impacts on Northern Hemisphere climate and weather extremes. Coordinated multi-model experiments will be key to test new higher resolution model configurations, innovative methods to reduce forecast error, and advanced methods to improve uptake of new Earth observations assets are planned. Blue-Action thereby demonstrates how such an uptake may assist in creating better optimized observation system for various modelling applications. The improved robust and reliable forecasting can help meteorological and climate services to better deliver tailored predictions and advice, including sub-seasonal to seasonal time scales, will take Arctic climate prediction beyond seasons and to teleconnections over the Northern Hemisphere. Blue-Action will through its concerted efforts therefore contribute to the improvement of climate models to represent Arctic warming realistically and address its impact on regional and global atmospheric and oceanic circulation.

The SeaDataNet pan-European infrastructure has been developed by NODCs and major research institutes from 34 countries. Over 100 marine data centres are connected and provide discovery and access to data resources for all European researchers. Moreover, SeaDataNet is a key infrastructure driving several portals of the European Marine Observation and Data network (EMODnet), initiated by EU DG-MARE for Marine Knowledge, MSFD, and Blue Growth. SeaDataNet complements the Copernicus Marine Environmental Monitoring Service (CMEMS), coordinated by EU DG-GROW. However, more effective and convenient access is needed to better support European researchers. The standards, tools and services developed must be reviewed and upgraded to keep pace with demand, such as developments of new sensors, and international and IT standards. Also EMODnet and Copernicus pose extra challenges to boost performance and foster INSPIRE compliance. More data from more data providers must be made available, from European and international research projects and observing programmes. SeaDataCloud aims at considerably advancing SeaDataNet services and increasing their usage, adopting cloud and HPC technology for better performance. More users will be engaged and for longer sessions by including advanced services in a Virtual Research Environment. Researchers will be empowered with a collection of services and tools, tailored to their specific needs, supporting marine research and enabling generation of added-value products. Data concern the wide range of in situ observations and remote sensing data. To have access to the latest cloud technology and facilities, SeaDataNet will cooperate with EUDAT, a network of computing infrastructures that develop and operate a common framework for managing scientific data across Europe. SeaDataCloud will improve services to users and data providers, optimise connecting data centres and streams, and interoperate with other European and international networks.