António Sykes, researcher at CCMAR, was appointed as the Portuguese and Sociedade Portuguesa de Ciências Animais em Laboratório (SPCAL) member of the Working Group on Capture and Transport of Cephalopods of FELASA (Federation of European Animal Science Associations).

This nomination was based on the extended knowledge that the researcher has on cephalopods and animal welfare. The FELASA's expert working groups publish guidelines, recommendations and reports. FELASA working groups are composed of international experts in the field of laboratory animal science and other areas of science relevant to the topic of the working group.

These publications are eventually used by the European Union on the update of existing legislation, in this case on the use of animals for experimental purposes (Directive 2010/63/EU which is currently translated into the Portuguese national legislation Decreto-Lei n.º 113/2013, de 7 de Agosto).

This is an important contribution for both CCMAR and the researcher.