Welcome to the PREFACE website


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Word cloud generated from project description. Credit: Wordle TM
Word cloud generated from project description. Credit: Wordle TM

The project Enhancing Prediction of Tropical Atlantic Climate and its Impacts (PREFACE) received funding by the European Union 7th Framework Programme (FP7-Environment) to improve our understanding of the functioning of the tropical Atlantic climate and our capabilities to predict it and its impacts, with a particular focus on Atlantic African fishing communities.

The project began in November 2013 and ended April 2018. It was a large project (~€12M) bringing together 28 partners across 18 countries in Europe and Africa with expertise in oceanography, climate modelling and prediction, and fisheries science, and 3 associate partners directly involved in the sustainable management of the three Eastern boundary large marine ecosystems (LME) of the Tropical Atlantic.

PREFACE formed part of a cluster of projects funded by the European Union to investigate climate-related ocean processes and combined impacts of multiple stressors on the marine environment, as a contribution to the pan-European and international goal of achieving the sustainable management of the environment and its resources.

Download the PREFACE flyer
Téléchargez le Prospectus PREFACE (Plus d’information en français: page “Outreach” et page “Deliverables and milestones”.)
Descarregue o Folheto PREFACE (Mais conteúdo em Português: página “Outreach” et página “Deliverables and milestones”.)


The information and views set out in this website are those of PREFACE and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Union.

Latest News

The PREFACE project ended on April 30th 2018. We will continue to post outcomes of the project on this website.


The PREFACE-AWA Policy brief, summarising the key messages for policy that arose from these projects’ synergy, is finally out! Check it out: PREFACE-AWA Policy Brief!


The PREFACE International conference on “Ocean, Climate and Ecosystem” and final project assembly gathered, from Norway to South Africa and California to Japan, 83 senior researchers, early career scientists, research institute directors, advisors to ministers, high-level managers of regional fisheries and coastal management commissions, and even a cartoonist, in a week of intensive and productive collaboration. Presentations, photos and more: available here.

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Upcoming Events

Workshop on “Small-scale fisheries in the South”, 25-26 June 2018, Plouzané, France, organized by Université de Bretagne Occidentale and IRD. The workshop, in French and English, will gather researchers, managers, financing and training institutions to discuss current research in small-scale fisheries in the South and the associated issues for a sustainable development. Registration deadline: 25 May. More….


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Recent Publications

Kanga et al. 2020: Unravelling Nutrient Dynamics and Mixed Layer Depth Variability in the Equatorial Atlantic: Insights from 10°W Meridional Section Monitoring.


Parages et al. 2020: El Niño as a predictor of round sardinella
distribution along the northwest African coast


N’Guessan et al. 2019: Eastern Tropical Atlantic Mixed Layer Depth: Assessment of Methods from In Situ Profiles in the Gulf of Guinea from Coastal to High Sea


Baldé et al. 2019: Bonga shad (Ethmalosa fimbriata) spawning tactics in an upwelling environment


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