➡️ Flavia Lucena Fredoux 🌟

Having joined in 2025, she is supporting her second Pure Ocean call for projects this year. And her expert perspective is invaluable!

With nearly 30 years of experience in fisheries assessment and management — within the Brazilian government, Regional Fisheries Management Organizations, IRD, and as a university professor — Flávia brings unique expertise in fisheries dynamics, resource sustainability, and the protection of marine ecosystems.

She has served as:

🌍 an expert for the United Nations, contributing to the World Ocean Assessment (2018, 2024),

🐟 a member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission,

🇧🇷 National Secretary at Brazil’s Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture (2023–2024),

🔬 a university professor and research director, with more than 140 publications and over 100 students supervised.

Today, she is co‑coordinator of the International Joint Laboratory (LMI) TAPIOCA, an international laboratory dedicated to understanding the ecological, biogeochemical, and human dynamics of the tropical Atlantic.

🎣 Her in‑depth knowledge of fisheries and sustainable management of living resources is essential. Overexploitation is the leading cause of biodiversity collapse: better understanding these dynamics means better protecting the ocean.

🔬 Since our creation, our ambition has been clear: to bring together an independent, international Scientific Committee of experts responsible for defining the focus of our calls for projects and selecting the initiatives to support. Thank you to the experts who have been supporting us for so many years.

Plastic pollution is accelerating. Science is sounding the alarm. And yet… France is preparing to give it even more power.

Since 2020, the AGEC law has set a clear course: reduce single‑use plastics, limit waste at the source, and protect both human health and biodiversity.

After years of work and commitments, France was finally moving in the right direction.

👉 Today, this progress is under threat.

As part of the Ddadue bill (an adaptation to European law), several amendments tabled in the Senate proposed rolling back these advances, some of them developed with representatives of the plastics industry.

Even though they were rejected in committee, nothing is settled yet: 🔁 they will return for debate during the public session.

The road remains full of obstacles, a clear sign of the power of lobbies willing to do whatever it takes to maintain the status quo.

Among the rollbacks being considered:

❌ postponing the end of single‑use plastic packaging to 2040,

❌ calling into question the 50% reduction in plastic bottles by 2030,

❌ bringing plastic containers back into school cafeterias and healthcare facilities,

❌ the possible return of free plastic bottles in offices and public buildings.

Unacceptable setbacks.

🔵 Science is unequivocal: plastic accumulates, fragments, and contaminates ecosystems and living organisms.

Turning back now would be an ecological and public‑health absurdity.

But one thing is certain:

You, as business leaders, are not condemned to wait.

Your ability to act does not depend on the parliamentary calendar:

➡️ You can move faster than the law.

➡️ You can support low‑impact, sustainable solutions.

➡️ You can align your decisions with scientific reality — not with industrial pressure.

In the face of rollback attempts, redoubling ambition is an act of responsibility.

Reducing plastic is not an option. It is a necessity.

International Day of Women in Science!

On this special day, let’s shine a spotlight on the women who are advancing marine research and opening new pathways for ocean protection.

Of the 34 research projects we support around the world, 20 are led or co‑led by women.

In a scientific field where women are still too often underrepresented, we are particularly proud to stand alongside them and support their work.

👩‍🔬🌎 Every day, they push back the boundaries of knowledge, transform our understanding of marine ecosystems, and help build the solutions of tomorrow.

To all these scientists who, often far from the spotlight, create real impact: thank you.

Your commitment is an inspiration.

✨ The women researchers behind these projects (alphabetical order):

Agnese Riccardi – Panther,
Alifa Bintha Haque – Bycatch & Beyond,
Ariadna Mecho – Mecopo,
Claudia Pogoreutz – SymbioSwap,
Elisa Areano – Mangrove Beekeeping,
Fanny Karatchodjoukova & Pauline Le Coq – Microcean,
Francimeire Costa – Regen Ocean Farms,
Hannah Epstein & Cassandra Benkwitt – Birds On Sticks,
Jennifer Lavers – Synsen & MicroPow,
Jennifer Matthews – Reef Reborn,
Katherine Bolstad – Antarctic Biolum,
Laura Barth – Polaris,
Laurence Le Direach – Floating Reef,
Lucie Cocquempot – Citizen into Science,
Luisa Fontoura – Fish On The Move,
Mar Benavides – Idefix,
Marta Ribes – SPO Plastic,
Megan Schuknecht – ALT‑Waste,
Nakia Cullain – Manta,
Nelia da Costa Mestre – RimiOmics.

🔎 Discover their remarkable projects: www.pure-ocean.org