CIESM Congress Snapshots 2013 Marseille In the morning of 28 October, following the welcome speeches of the French Authorities, the inaugural address of CIESM President did officially open the 40th Congress (see podcasts). Later in the week, Prince Albert II of Monaco was elected unanimously by the CIESM Board for a new six-year mandate as President of CIESM. credit: CIESM credit: CIESM One of the Congress highlights was the participation,  for the very first time, of National Representatives from the Russian Federation - latest Member State to join and thus significantly enlarge the geographic perimeter of the Commission, as shown on this illustration taken from the keynote speech of the Director General Frederic Briand. A night visit to the MUCEM - the brand-new National Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilization - which welcomed us for an exclusive tour on 29 October. credit: G. de Lange credit: CIESM Prof. Daniel Pauly, making a point during the CIESM Fishery Governance Panel (see podcast) on how to reconstruct unreported catches. credit: P. Chanard Alen Soldo, coordinator of CIESM Task Force on Sharks, during his presentation to the Fishery Panel (see podcast and that of other panelists). Committee sessions often played out in front of a 'packed house' (see session abstracts and brief syntheses). credit: CIESM credit: CIESM A moment in the CIESM Panel debate (see podcast) on Open Access to oceanographic Infrastructures, moderated by Joaquin Tintoré (left), with Angelo Camerlenghi, Alexander Soucek, Miro Gacic and Maurice Héral. Ocean Sampling Day technical session (looks like fun ...) credit: CIESM credit: G. de Lange Past 8:00 p.m., for those lucky enough to work after hours, the meeting venue (Palais du Pharo) put on its gala dress. in the morning the Palais was no less spectacular. credit : M. Barbier, CIESM credit : A. Gastaldi, CIESM an 'instant shot' of a small corner of a busy poster session on 30 October. 31 October: time for National Delegates (from left to right: Etienne Ruellan, Isabella Beretta, Ridha Mrabet, Alenka Malej, Maurice Héral, Federico Alvarez, Wolf-Christian Dullo) to count and re-count hundreds of ballots for the important election to Committee Chairs. Frédéric Briand watches all this from far left. credit : K. Rassoulzadegan, CIESM credit: E. Sala In the mean time, Marc Verlaque (right), Charles-François Boudouresque (center) and Frederic Briand (left) discuss their ongoing progress on Volume IV of the CIESM Exotic Atlas Series, devoted to Exotic Macrophytes, which will be published before summer. Prince Albert, next to CIESM webmaster Valérie Gollino, signing the diploma of the Best Poster Prize winner awarded this year to a junior scientist... credit : K. Rassoulzadegan, CIESM credit : M. Barbier, CIESM And the (happy) winner is ... Tatiana Severin, congratulated here by Prince Albert. Her poster entitled 'Impact of open ocean convection on nutrient and phytoplankton biomass and activity' was much appreciated by the Jury - composed of the committee chairs - for its capacity to translate simply and graphically rich and complex cross-disciplinary findings. CIESM President congratulating the Chairs - from left to right Miro Gacic, Gert de Lange, Axel Romana, Ferdinando Boero and Enric Sala - who served the Commission with distinction through their 2010-2013 mandate.Two departing chairs - Cemal Turan and Milton da Costa- are missing on this photo. credit: CIESM CIESM Pdt (Prince Albert) and DG (Frederic Briand), welcoming one by one the winners of the elections to Committee Chairs for 2013-2016. From left to right: Jamila Ben Souissi, Miro Gacic, Silvia Ceramicola, Frank Oliver Glöckner, Salud Deudero and Tamara Shiganova. Two other newly-elected Chairs are missing on this shot: François Galgani and Yves Henocque. credit: CIESM credit: CIESM The new team - Headquarters plus Chairs - who will drive the work of the Commission in the next three years seized on a rare chance to be altogether. From left to right Michèle Barbier, Kaveh Rassoulzadegan, Jamila Ben Souissi, Valerie Gollino (half-hidden), .Laura Giuliano, Cdt Laurent Soler, Miro Gacic, Tamara Shiganova, Prince Albert, Frédéric Briand, Salud Deudero, Annelyse Gastaldi, Frank Oliver Glöckner, Silvia Ceramicola and Monique McLaughlin.