The first trans-Atlantic mapping survey has been announced and it’s to take place under the Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance.
The announcement was made by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney T.D., Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, and Karmenu Vella, Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries in Brussels, along with Canada’s Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Gail Shea.
The Irish research vessel, RV Celtic Explorer will undertake a mapping expedition between St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada and Galway in Ireland in June of this year, as scientists from the Marine Institute, Ireland will be joined by a multi-national team made up of USA, Canadian and European ocean mapping experts.
The announcement was made at the European Commission hosted event, “The Atlantic- Our Shared resource. Making the Vision Reality, which was a follow up to the May 2013 signing of the Galway Statement on Atlantic Ocean Research Cooperation between the EU, Canada and the United States of America.
This event is the launch pad for all the Galway Statement follow-up projects funded with the first Horizon 2020 Blue Growth calls – the main financial instrument on the EU side implementing the Galway Statement commitments.