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PacMAN?

The project will develop a national invasive species monitoring system as well as an early-warning decision-support tool for Pacific SIDS, offering a user-friendly dashboard indicating the potential presence of invasive species (including pathogens and pest species) or risk of invasions to support local management. The project will achieve this goal through a work plan that includes (i) needs assessment and review of current best practices in detecting invasive species; (ii) training of local scientists in Read more…

By Ward Appeltans, ago

PacMAN advisory board meeting 2023

The PacMAN second phase has finalised at the end of 2023, with major outcomes like the testing of 2 qPCR assays for high-risk target invasive species, including the detected Didemnum perlucidum. A local advisory board meeting was held in December 2023, where the achievements and outcomes of the work were discussed in detail. The possibilities of continuing PacMAN work within the Fiji government structure was also discussed. The PacMAN third phase will start in March Read more…

By Saara Suominen, ago

PacMAN stakeholder work presented at the IODC conference

The PacMAN project and stakeholder work was presented at the second International Ocean Data Conference held in Paris on the 20th to the 21st of March 2023. The presentation was part of session 2: Community engagement and capacity development in data literacy. The presentation focused on the approach to stakeholder-led project development and was called Local stakeholder engagement leading to operational marine invasive species management in Fiji, the PacMAN project. During the presentation, it was Read more…

By Saara Suominen, ago

PacMAN scientific training course online

The PacMAN scientific training course “Marine Invasive Species Early Detection: Utilising Molecular Tools” materials are now available online on the OTGA platform. Anyone can sign up for the course and learn about marine invasive species management, as well as read through the protocols used in the PacMAN monitoring program. The course has 6 different modules: Module 1: Marine Invasive Species Module 2: Monitoring plan & protocols, high risk species, eDNA and qPCR Module 3: Fiji Read more…

By Saara Suominen, ago

Report available for the second PacMAN Scientific advisory board meeting

The second PacMAN scientific advisory board (SAB) meeting took place on the 20th of October 2022 as a virtual meeting. The report on what was discussed during the meeting is available here. Five scientific advisory board members joined in-person, while the remaining members were given a chance to comment on the updated monitoring plan prior to the meeting on an online document. The meeting objectives were to give an update on the progress of the Read more…

By Saara Suominen, ago

Report available for the PacMAN onsite local stakeholder meeting

The PacMAN local advisory board meeting was held at USP campus on the 10 November 2022 in Suva, Fiji. The report of the meeting is now available. The meeting brought together 18 representatives of 8 different local stakeholder institutions working in the marine field of Fiji. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the progress of the PacMAN project and the development of the PacMAN decision support tool to meet the needs of all Read more…

By Saara Suominen, ago

Succesful PacMAN scientific training course in Suva, Fiji

The PacMAN scientific course was a hybrid course with an initial introduction to the course topics held online on the OTGA platform. The on-site phase of the course lasted one week at the USP IAS campus in Suva Fiji. In total there were 21 course participants from 7 different stakeholder institutions in Fiji. The course covered topics ranging from sampling, DNA extraction, settlement plate sorting, PCR, qPCR and bioinformatics as well as data analysis. Training Read more…

By Saara Suominen, ago

PacMAN takes part in an invasive species workshop in Tahiti

The PacMAN project manager Joape Ginigini took part in an invasive species workshop in Tahiti  titled Marine Biosecurity Research And Management For French Polynesia And The South Pacific Region. His excellency the President of French Polynesia Edouard Fritch (pictured in the center holding a blue file) opened the workshop.  The overall objectives of the workshop were to scope opportunities and priorities for scientific and technical cooperation around marine biosecurity management between Aotearoa New Zealand, French Polynesia and the wider South Read more…

By Saara Suominen, ago

PacMAN scientific training course announced

The first PacMAN scientific training course is announced. This hybrid course containing both online and on-site training will develop the capacity of local stakeholders in Fiji in marine biosecurity and the use of molecular methods in monitoring marine biodiversity. The course will be hosted on the Ocean Teacher Global Academy e-learning platform, and at the USP Suva campus. More specifically the training course will provide an introduction to sample collection and sorting, including taxonomy and Read more…

By Saara Suominen, ago

PacMAN presented at invasive alien species consultations for IAS Policy Review

The PacMAN project was presented at the GEF 6 Invasive Alien Species consultations on the IAS Policy Review and the National Invasive Species Framework and Strategic Plan (NISFSAP) validations at the Outrigger Resort from the 12th to 13th of May. Mr. Joape Ginigini (Project Manager) highlighted the project’s history, design and methodologies. He also explained how PacMAN would be able to provide data needed in the field of Marine Biosecurity in Fiji using eDNA and Read more…

By Saara Suominen, ago

DNA extractions of first PacMAN samples

The work for the trial phase of PacMAN is well on its way, as detailed in the PacMAN monitoring plan. With multiple field campaigns already completed and samples processed by morphological sorting and for molecular work, the PacMAN team is collecting invaluable data on marine biodiversity at the Suva harbour. The combination of methods will allow PacMAN to get an overview of the taxonomic groups currently present at the harbour, and evaluate the methods in Read more…

By Saara Suominen, ago