Author: Maria Huete-Ortega

EBB Final Meeting in Porto, Portugal

On July 4th and 5th, 2023, the members of the Interreg European Marine Biological Resource Centre Biobank (EBB) gathered in Porto, Portugal, to mark the conclusion of the project. Participants from several countries involved in the project, including Spain, Portugal, France, and Norway, came together for the Final Meeting to discuss topics such as ABS regulation, project outcomes, as well as the project’s legacy and future perspectives.

The event on July 4th commenced with opening remarks by Nicolas Pade (Executive Director of EMBRC) and Maria Huete (Project Coordinator at Uvigo). This was followed by a presentation by Anne Emmanuelle Kervella (International Cooperation, CNRS & EMBRC-ERIC), who introduced the best practices guidelines (BPGs) for ABS regulation. Ian Probert (Head of Roscoff Culture Collection, EMBRC-FR (SU-CNRS)) then presented the TRACE and TRACK tools for biobanks. Arnaud Laroquette (ABS Compliance Officer, EMBRC-ERIC) concluded the session by conducting webinars that provided an introduction to the EU Access and Benefit Sharing regulations for culture collections and users.

On 5th July, the Work Packages WP3-Capitalization, WP4-Development of common methodologies for the management of Marine Biobanks and WP5-ABS compliance for collections and fundamental research using MBRs (EMBRC-ERIC, UVIGO) leaders presented their outcomes. Moreover, there was a panel conducted by Juliana Carvajal (Head of European Affairs, Pôle Mer Bretagne Atlantique) about the role of biological resource centres in ABS. The closure was conducted by Nicolas Pade and Estefania Paredes Rosendo (UVigo).

The meeting was broadcasted by Vimeo and participants could also join by Zoom videoconference. The main goal of the EBB project was to facilitate sustainable access to marine biodiversity, its associated data, and extractable products for local and international academia and industry users, and to incentivize biodiversity conservation in coastal ecosystems by promoting compliance with Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) from the Nagoya Protocol. The project accomplished its initial proposals and leave an important legacy on the ABS regulation knowledge.

EBB Workshop in Gran Canaria, Spain

On May 16th and 17th, 2023, the EBB project held a workshop at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain). The workshop covered the topics, such as harmonisation of data management and administrative procedures, technical discussions on Material Transfer Agreements (MTA), strains deposits in culture collections and quality management systems for culture collections. Techniques for strain isolation, cryopreservation, flow cytometry, morphological and molecular characterization of species were also discussed. Potential training courses that the EBB culture collections could offer to their users were also addressed.

Additionally, training was provided on the TRACK and TRACE tools developed during the project. The TRACK tool aims to manage data on marine biological resources in natural environments. The TRACE database serves as a searchable catalog of a wide range of marine biological resources, including animals, macroalgae, protists, prokaryotes, and viruses, provided by the marine stations within the EMBRC Research Infrastructure. The catalog includes living resources currently cultured ex situ (model animal and macroalgal taxa, microorganism culture collections), fixed or frozen resources maintained in sample collections, and resources that can potentially be collected from the natural environment upon demand. In the TRACE database, users can find information about the nature and origin of the resources they are interested in and identify the marine station(s) that can provide the biological resources through on-site and/or remote access.

EBB Workshop and Final Meeting

EBB is organising an event on 4th and 5th July 2023, in Porto to inform on the last  advances in the implementation of its outputs. It is possible to register for both days or only for the second day. The first day sessions are closed to EMBRC and MIRRI members and the second day is opened for general public.
− 4th and 5th July (EMBRC and MIRRI) – Register here.
− 5th July (Open Session) – Register here.

The new edition of the EBB symposium is aimed to update of the main outputs (management tools) produced in the framework of project including:
– EBB TRACE database: a searchable catalogue of the full range of marine biological
resources that could be provided by the EBB Biobank
– EBB TRACK tool: instrument for the provision of macroorganisms in culture collections
service supply and biobank management

Link to Final Agenda: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w3iHcIAkkvU3AtCPRQ5rhANDKinR46Ay/view?usp=drive_link

ONLINE TRANSMISSION

On the 5th July, the Meeting is open and It will be possible to watch the event remotely through Vimeo. During this sessions, the outcomes of the project will be presented and there will be a Panel Discussion about the role of biological resource centres in ABS.

Access link: https://vimeo.com/event/3529202

Launch of the EBB Access and Benefit Sharing Training Webinars

Providing access to marine genetic resources is one of EMBRC’s primary services. The EMBRC is committed to facilitating access to and supply of marine biological and genetic material to users in compliance with international, European and national legal frameworks regarding Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS). The European Blue Biobank (EBB) project, under the umbrella of EMBRC, supports this aspiration by promoting compliance with ABS regulations derived from the Nagoya Protocol and implemented in Europe through the EU ABS Regulation that came into force in 2014 as well as Member State’s access legislations, where applicable. This regulatory framework, although effective in protecting the rights of the provider country, puts burden on the user to demonstrate lawful utilization and there are concerns that the added bureaucracy in relation to ABS regulations may be detrimental to Research, Development and innovation activities. In order to help navigating the EU ABS Regulations to both users and research infrastructures, facilities, biobanks and collections, the EBB project has launched a series of webinars. They aim to provide an introduction to EU Access and Benefit Sharing regulations for collections and users, including information about its scope, recommendations for institutions with users and collections of marine genetic resources and for users on how to manage ABS compliance, and a description of the EU Registers to support ABS compliance. This series of webinars have been authorized by Heidi Tillin from the Marine Biological Association (MBA), Anne Emmanuelle Kervella and Arnaud Laroquette from EMBRC-ERIC, and Belén Martínez, Fiz da Costa and Maria del Mar Costa Portela from the University of Vigo. They are accesible through the MBA YouTube channel.

The report about the registry request of EBB is now available

The document explains the requirements that a collection needs to comply with to be included in the EU register of collections, and the difficulties that the EBB project found in its initial idea to include all the partners collections as a single collection named European Blue Biobank. Because the registration of the collections must be done at national level, the deliverable also describes the steps to be taken by each partner of the EBB project to register their collections individually, should they wish to do so.

D5.2._Registry_request.pdf

Learning outcomes from the case studies supported by EBB project

Utilization of marine genetic resources from jurisdictional waters requires providing proof that sampling and utilization of such resources has been done in accordance with National ABS regulations in place. EEB project has implemented a series of use cases (Report on the use cases) to learn the possible constraints and problems that may arise during the process of obtaining the necessary documentation and present easy to follow solutions. The lessons learned were applied to improve the EBB best practice guidelines on ABS (The EMBRC guide to ABS compliance. Recommendations to marine biological resources collections’ and users’ institutions) produced for institutions providing access to marine genetic resources both ex-situ and in-situ and to produce the Step by Step guide towards ABS compliance for users (Seek, keep & transfer: A step-by-step guide to ABS compliance when utilizing marine genetic resources).

D6.4. Report on application and EBBs contribution to Best Practice GuidelinesDownload

Report on the use cases

EBB project engaged with end-users of marine biological resources to learn about the practical implications of complying with Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) regulations in the countries of origin and the major hurdles they need to face during the process. Sixteen case studies for non-commercial utilisation of genetic resources are presented in this document, selected amongst the more than 30 that EBB followed and supported. These cases illustrate a number of difficulties and grey areas regarding the applicability or not of the Nagoya Protocol within different research contexts and applications. In doing so EBB has proposed and encountered ways to solve such problems. The lessons learnt were applied to improve the EBB best practice guidelines on ABS produced for the provision of ex-situ and in-situ genetic resources within Atlantic area EMBRC collections and biobanks (The EMBRC guide to ABS compliance. Recommendations to marine biological resources collections’ and users’ institutions) and to produce its associated Step by Step guide towards ABS compliance (Seek, keep & transfer: A step-by-step guide to ABS compliance when utilizing marine genetic resources).

EBB – D6.2Report on the use casesDownload

European Union ABS User Networking Event

On Monday, June 14, 2021, the Leibniz Institute DSMZ/German Nagoya Protocol HuB will be hosting an online EU ABS Networking Event. This meeting will be organized together with the European Marine Biological Resource Centre (EMBRC), the Union for Ethical BioTrade, ABS-int, the Dutch ABS National Focal Point (hosted by Wageningen University and Research) and the Natural History Museum London.

Our colleague and EBB partner Anne Emmanuelle Kervella, from CNRS and Station Biologique de Roscoff, will participate in this event. The event´s main objective will be to showcase the efforts made in the European Union to support users of genetic resources in their respective sectors or regions with access and benefit-sharing (ABS) and compliance requirements. It will be divided into two parts: one to find out what has already been done and the other to find out what still needs to be done.

You can check out the draft agenda here and you can register online here.

Seminar on the utilization of genetic resources within the framework of the Nagoya Protocol and the regulations for its implementation

Next May 28, 2021, it will be organized a seminar on the utilization of genetic resources within the framework of the Nagoya Protocol and the regulations for its implementation. This event is co-organized by the Spanish Bank of Algae of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, an entity managed by the Fundación Canaria Parque Científico Tecnológico, together with the Society for the Economic Promotion of Gran Canaria (SPEGC), the TFC Herbarium (SEGAI) of the University of La Laguna Tenerife (ULL), the Museum of Natural Sciences of Tenerife (MUNA), the Canarian Institute of Agricultural Research (ICIA), the Canarian Botanical Garden ‘Viera y Clavijo’-CSIC Associated Unit, Cabildo de Gran Canaria and the Herbarium of Marine Sciences (BCM-ULPGC).

This initiative´s objective is linked to the promotion of cooperative relationships between companies and entities that are part of the blue biotechnology platform. Specifically, this seminar aims to provide a better understanding of the Nagoya Protocol and the European and Spanish Access Benefits Sharing regulations, informing on when it is applied and resolving the doubts that academia and industrial sectors may have about its application.

The day will be divided into a first block dedicated to the Nagoya Protocol and the legislation on access and utilization of genetic resources in research and industry, where you can learn more about its application and its application in the Canary Islands. The second block will focus on deepening the knowledge of the Biological Collections of the Canary Islands, as agents of ex-situ conservation of biodiversity and suppliers of genetic resources to the industry. You can check here the agenda and other information of the event.

The event will be free of charge and broadcasted via zoom. Registration is required and can be done here.

Workshop on reproductive biotechnology and cryobanking in aquatic species

On April 2021, from 7th to 9th, the UAlg team organized a workshop entitled “Workshop on reproductive biotechnology and cryobanking in aquatic species”. It was hold in Faro, Portugal, where several ponents from diverse institutions gave very interesting lectures about reproductive and cryopreservation techniques via zoom platform. Dr. Elsa Cabrita and her team were in charge of moderating the event and also conducted the practical sessions.

Among the invited speakers there were several researchers involved in EBB. Dr. Ibon Cancio, from PiE-UPV/EHU, gave a talk entitled “Biobanking and marine culture collections: access and benefit sharing obligations in the utilisation of genetic resources”. In it he explained the main aspects of ABS regulations and how these can affect access to marine biological resources. And, Dr. Estefanía Paredes, from the CIM-UVigo, gave a talk entitled “Cryopreservation in molluscs & echinoderms”, in which she explained the main aspects of the conservation of these organisms. In addition, Dr. Paredes presented the “Video-Session V: Laser techniques for thawing embryos”, where the latest techniques for the recovery of frozen samples were shown in a visual way.

Apart from this, the day 9th was the practical training day of the workshop where a total of 20 people attended these training classes, which consisted on a visit to zebrafish facilities, sperm collection from seabream and Portuguese oyster, and cryopreservation of these samples using several methods. Besides, testicular dissection and spermatogonia collection were performed including cryopreservation of these cells for conducting transplantations in the future.

Overall, this workshop helped to disseminate some of main aspects of the project and contributed to the capitalization of the project.