The ocean’s biodiversity provides us with vital services: it sustains 32 out of the 33 known animal phyla and supports the livelihoods of over three billion people. These services are endangered by human pressures and climate change. To understand the pressures on the ocean and manage resources in a sustainable manner requires comprehensive, accurate and timely data.
The Copernicus Marine Service produces ocean monitoring products by integrating satellite and in situ ocean observations with marine models. However, the models currently applied are restraining the provision of information on biodiversity and marine food-webs.
Our vision is to build new and innovative models that will accurately simulate the marine ecosystem, including higher trophic level organisms and the benthic environment. NECCTON will use state-of-the-art techniques and incorporate new data streams to produce a fully integrated modelling system that more closely represents the functioning of the marine ecosystem.
Integrating our systems into the Copernicus Marine Service will enable a greater number of more reliable ocean products to be delivered to support biodiversity conservation and food security.
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The overall objective of NECCTON is to enable CMEMS to deliver products that inform marine biodiversity conservation and food resources management, by fusing innovative ocean ecosystem models and new data.
Read our case studies showing how NECCTON tools and products have been used and co-developed with stakeholders in the fisheries management and biodiversity conservation sectors.
At the Ocean Sciences Meeting 2026 in Glasgow (22–27 February 2026), NECCTON co-organised the session “Advancing Marine Ecosystem Modeling for a Predictable and Sustainable Ocean” together with OceanPredict’s Marine Ecosystem Analysis and Prediction Task Team. ...
Learn moreThe NECCTON project has reached an important milestone, unveiling a new generation of marine ecosystem models that promise to transform how we understand and manage our oceans....
Learn moreA long-term study shows that common and Atlantic spotted dolphins in the Azores segregate seasonally based on sea surface temperature, with a key threshold around 21°C determining which species dominates the region....
Learn moreNECCTON has launched a suite of machine‑learning and data‑assimilation algorithms to help the Copernicus Marine Service better merge ocean models with a growing range of observations....
Learn moreThis study defines environmentally similar “provinces” to map and track changes in micronekton biomass and vertical structure from 1998 to 2023, shedding light on the seasonal and year‑to‑year variability of these key mid‑sized ocean organisms that drive deep‑sea carbon export and feed many marine predators....
Learn moreResearchers have mapped long‑term hot spots where blackspot seabream consistently gather in the western Mediterranean, identifying key areas that could support future protection measures for this overfished species with minimal impact on local fisheries....
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