Transitioning to Sustainable Life below Water

Dr. Werner Ekau is Director of the Operational Centre Germany of the International Ocean Institute (IOI). From 2004 to 2017 he was a member and chair of the Committee of Directors. He is a fisheries biologist trained at Bochum, Hamburg and Kiel University and has worked in Antarctica, Argentina, and the Azores. Since 1991 his work has revolved around fish biology and ecology in tropical ecosystems and throughout the 1990s he was a coordinator for the bilateral co-operation in Marine Research between Brazil and Germany. His research interests lie in the wider field of "Adaptations of different life stages of fish to their environment and the consequences of climate change". This includes activities in growth and population dynamics; migration pattern of fish in coastal environments; ichthyoplankton; fisheries biology; ecology; and ecosystem responses to climate change. An important topic is his work is the ecosystem approach to fisheries management, by which he engaged for many years in the Large Marine Ecosystem community as well as the stimulation and enforcement of international cooperation and networking in marine science and governance. He is a member of the Group of Experts on Capacity Development of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO.