It counts about 1,400 employees, the majority focused on scientific & technical environmental aspects. ISPRA branches are in Lazio, Veneto, Campania, Sicily and Tuscany. Particularly, the Branch office in Chioggia (Venice), active since over 20 years ago, will be in charge of the coordination and implementation of DEFISHGEAR.

ISPRA has an extensive experience in International projects funded by the European Union and other International Governmental Organizations. It was coordinator/partner of a number of research projects on sustainable management of the marine ecosystem (e.g., GAP1-Bridging the gap between science and stakeholders; INDECO-Development of Indicators of Environmental Performance of the Common Fisheries Policy; MUTFISHARE-MUTualization on FISHeries and Aquaculture european REsearch institutes). Presently, the ISPRA branch office of Chioggia is leader of a WP (Involving stakeholders in research) in the EU FP7 participatory research project "GAP2 - Bridging the gap between science, stakeholders and policy makers", that is about the outcomes of European research policies and activities, and their impact on the governance of fisheries. ISPRA owns a fully equipped oceanographic R/V ASTREA.

ISPRA supports regulatory activities of the Ministry at national, European and international level and possesses the required know-how and scientific skills to integrate science with management and policy. It is in charge to follow at a national level the aspects related to marine litter in the framework of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, editing protocols and guidelines on marine litter monitoring and reduction.

In the framework of DEFISHGEAR project, ISPRA will be involved in implementing pilot actions in the port of Chioggia (Italy), which hosts the largest fishing fleet of the Adriatic Sea, aiming at managing and reducing marine litter: fishermen awareness campaigns; derelict fishing gear collection for recycling; fishing-for-litter; "ghost nets" collection at sea. Moreover, ISPRA will collect georeferenced data on the volumes, types and origin of marine litter, through electronic log-books installed on commercial fishing vessels, on-board observers, questionnaires to fishermen, and the SoleMON trawl survey performed annually in the Adriatic Sea.

For more detailed information about ISPRA, please visit our web-site: www.isprambiente.gov.it/en

If you wish to find out more information about DeFishGear activities implemented by ISPRA, please contact Mr Tomaso Fortibuoni via e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.