European Commission
EASIN - European Alien Species Information Network

EASIN News for 2017

Biological invasions have become one of the main drivers of habitat degradation and biodiversity loss in island ecosystems worldwide, which are hot spots of biodiversity and contain rare habitats and endemic species. Small islands are particularly vulnerable to the threat of invasive species.

Blue biotechnology is concerned with the exploration and exploitation of marine resources in order to develop new products with economic value, get new sources of energy, extract new active ingredients for pharmaceutical and industrial purposes or increase food supply.

Many fish species undertake more or less extended migrations as part of their basic behaviour. Amongst the best known examples in Europe are salmon (Salmo salar), sturgeon (Acipenser sturio) and eel (Anguilla anguilla), which are diadromous species with their life cycle taking place partly in fresh water and partly in sea water, often swimming several thousands of kilometers to reach their spawning grounds.