CRAM’s history

Ferran Alegre President of CRAM

How did it all begin? In 1991, a viral epidemic killed hundreds of striped dolphins in the Western Mediterranean. The animals appeared stranded on the beach, dead or seriously ill. One of those animals was attended by Ferran Alegre, veterinary and environmental technician of the Municipality of Premià de Mar. That epidemic revealed many deficiencies, including the lack of knowledge and infrastructure to assist protected marine species. The experience was so impressing to the vet that he volunteered for the “Generalitat de Catalunya” to give help and clinical response to marine animals in danger of extinction that appeared sick or injured on the beaches of Catalonia.

After two years of rescue and assistance was necessary to have a place where you could see the animals with minimal conditions.

Ferran was aware of the existence in Premià de Mar, of an abandoned house in a very poor condition but located near the sea. With the support of Environmental Town Councilor, Leopold Barreras, he got permission to install a small plastic pool to facilitate the recovery of marine wildlife.

In that position he was able to fit out, with the help of colleagues and volunteers from the Town Hall, a facility that made possible to present to the “Generalitat de Catalunya”  the first project for a Rehabilitation Center of Marine Animals.

Despite the novelty of the project and the initial administrative difficulties, the July 12, 1994 officially opened the Center for Rehabilitation of Marine Animals of Catalonia (CRAMC), becoming the first center of its kind in the Mediterranean.

Ferran Alegre had a team of volunteers and a symbolic budget to provide immediate assistance, 24 hours a day, to any protected species that had been object of bycatch or stranding anywhere in the Catalan coast

Those were years of pioneering, of friends, volunteers, innovation and success in the recovery of sea turtles and dolphins. Campaigns as "Ajudem-la" (Help them) were launched, based on joint work with longline fishing and achieved such a success that it had been adopted as a model of management in the conservation of marine turtles.

Surgical techniques and approaches to rescue and clinic on stranding became a reference point as they were presented at international scientific forums.
The collaboration with the Faculty of Veterinary allowed, and still permits, to study and analyze all the dolphins that strand dead on the beaches, due to  discover new diseases that help in the understanding of these species.

The Center, however, had so few resources that its running was only possible with a structure based on altruism and volunteerism and, therefore, it didn’t allow to open new lines of research or developing strong educational and awareness programs.

For that reason, Ferran Alegre promoted the creation of the Foundation for the Rehabilitation and Conservation of Marine Animals – CRAM, that was set up in October 1996, and allowed a transparent and suitable legal and economic framework for a future development.
The Foundation for the Rehabilitation and Conservation of Marine Animals - CRAM is an NGO dedicated to the recovery of animals and marine ecosystems, research and education.

The statutes of the CRAM Foundation have three fundamental goals:

Rehabilitate and reintroduce to the environment, through an appropriate technical assistance, the specimens of protected marine species that have been victims of stranding, capture or bycatch.
Develop and promote research projects in conjunction with other scientific groups and universities, with the aim of finding solutions to the decline of the Mediterranean populations.
Make aware and educate on the environment to the different school levels and the general population through different activities.

Since the beginning, CRAM has been concerned that his work, led initially to the immediate area, had to trace the overall picture in the future. This objective was carried out under the premise that to achieve significant changes on environmental issues, it is necessary first to invest in local action.

After all these years of intense work, the Foundation CRAM is a reference point in clinical rehabilitation and protection of marine fauna, acting on specimens at risk and working on concrete actions to protect the marine environment at a national range and also through international cooperation.

CRAM Foundation opens in 2011 an office in the Maritime Museum Ria de Bilbao (Bilboko Itsasadarra Itsas Museora) in order to expand its conservation activities in the marine environment. The new offices are the starting point for developing research, education and training in Euskadi.

CRAM team during a rescue

Rescue trucks

The Vell Marí in an awareness campaign togheter with "la Caixa"