Hello Jesús and thank you for having a chat with us today!

Question: Why did you join the CleanAtlantic project?

Answer: I was in the project since the first discussions. CleanAtlantic help us to increase our cooperation and coordination with other EU member states. This is critical for the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive

Question: How did you experience your role in CleanAtlantic, as the IEO was involved in different work packages, especially in awareness raising activities, and has produced several reports?

Answer: We are very happy with the results. CleanAtlantic has attracted a lot of attention of the public and we have been contacted by different actors (like schools, NGOs, etc) asking for materials, conferences, etc. We published recently raising awareness material in cooperation with the divulgation unit at the IEO and also a joint paper with CEDRE about cigarette butts role in heavy metals transfer.

Question: What did you develop throughout the project? How did the project influence your work?

Answer: We improved our tools to monitor marine litter. We increased the cooperation also in our institution, with people working on discard or fish stocks evaluation for example. Probably without CleanAtlantic this would have taken more time. In this sense, marine litter in the marine environment is like this mobile company of the 90’s “connecting people”. The project has a very positive influence in my work, we published 2 papers and 2 more are under revision.

Question: What is your best CleanAtlantic memory?

Answer: Maybe the nice project meetings discussing with our colleagues about approaches, results, etc , especially in this COVID times¡

Question: What did you learn from the project? How does inter-regional cooperation can foster the fight against marine litter according to you?

Answer: Despite the cultural differences our goal is the same to fight marine litter. The inter-regional cooperation is essential to agree on common objectives but also to exchange ideas and best practices.

Question: What are the future activities your organisation is planning regarding marine litter?

Answer: To improve our monitoring tools with a view to tackle the sources.