Brussels, 29/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - The EU is giving its support to help combat the presence of jellyfish in the Mediterranean. This is for two reasons: environmental and economic. In particular, it is a matter of safeguarding tourism, a sector that is important for the region, and which, according to “Blue Plan” data (United Nations programme), makes up 30.5% of global tourism (2005). From 58 million international tourists in 1970, the number of tourists rose to 246 million in 2005 (294 million in 2007). Income from international tourism amounted to $195 billion in 2005 ($5.6 billion in 1970).
European support will be given to the MED-JELLYFISH project funded by the EU as part of the cross-border cooperation programme “Mediterranean Sea Basin” (CTMED). Its share will amount to one tenth of the cost of the project (€2.593 million), a direct source has pointed out. The project, coordinated by National Inter-University Consortium for Marine Sciences (Italy, Lazio), will last for 36 months and involve observation of jellyfish by citizens and the development of a mathematical model to help biologists follow jellyfish movements in the Mediterranean. The MED-JELLYFISH project was presented during the 6th edition of the conference organised as part of the European Maritime Day held in Malta on 21 and 22 May this year. (FB/transl.jl)