Message from BioMarine's founder

Pierre Erwes' short biography

"For the past six months I have been travelling around the world to raise awareness about the state of our oceans. I have been met with an unprecedented interest in and support for BioMarine – more than any other project we have launched. People have given their time to advance serious proposals and recommendations, resulting in a constructive debate with the emphasis on solving problems of which we have long been aware.

There is no time left for procrastination... Global warming, overfishing, and energy shortages are harsh realities. I have met many remarkable and courageous men and women who struggle every day to advance science and develop our societies while also boosting our economies. The era of economy versus ecology and scientific breakthroughs versus ethics is over. There are solutions available, even if they need to be developed and adapted to respond to the social and economic context of different localities and regions.

We need your support to launch new initiatives and to initiate and follow through on programmes of action at BioMarine.

We want BioMarine 2008 to mark the beginning not of another forum talk shop, but of a marvellous experience: initiation of a wave of change that we will develop and build on with you, in order to propose solutions for the future and concrete steps to take today.
Finally I would like to thank all our business sponsors and our partners, especially the PACA region, the Bouches-du-Rhône and Var regional councils and the towns of Marseille and Toulon who have been the first supporters of the project".

Video interview with President Pierre Erwes and Co-chair Tony Haymet