This Thursday, about a thousand institutions from around the world, both public and private, join the initiative Be Open about Animal Research Day - Get on BOARD, coordinated by the European Animal Research Association (EARA). In a social media campaign, celebrating for the first time the World Day for Transparency in Biomedical Animal Testing, several examples will be shared throughout the day on the social networks of EARA and partners.

The Algarve Centre for Marine Sciences (CCMAR-Algarve) is one of the institutes joining EARA and one of the signatories of the Transparency Agreement. By signing and participating in this initiative, CCMAR aims to develop an Open Science through a policy of transparency regarding the use of animals for research purposes. 

"At CCMAR, animal experimentation (fish, cephalopods) follows the most exigent international standards and we are open to the scrutiny of society. Therefore, we join the world day on transparency in animal experimentation for biomedical purposes, so that citizens become aware of its importance and necessity for society," says Adelino Canário, researcher and Board Director of CCMAR.

The program has several activities such as live streaming Q&A, statements of support of international and European organizations, sharing videos and case studies, which will include the work developed by CCMAR on the study of fish in Antarctica. For the executive director of EARA, Kirk Leech "it's great to see the worldwide biomedical community demonstrating its commitment to being more open and transparent about its use of animals in research.”

Over the past few weeks, CCMAR has shared a campaign on social media about the fish welfare used by our researchers for scientific purposes. The campaign has several videos leading up to this day and aims to show to the public that the animal welfare used in our facilities is a constant concern of our centre and a key point in the performance of our activities.