Frederico Cardigos holds a Bachelor's degree in marine biology and fisheries and a Master's degree in nature conservation and management. He is the Coordinator of the Representation Office of the Autonomous Region of the Azores in Brussels, a position he has held since October 2017.
He is a member of the Sargasso Sea Commission.
He served as parliamentary assistant to MEP Ricardo Serrão Santos in Brussels between 2014 and 2017. In this context, he provided assistance in areas related to fisheries, sea and the environment. On behalf of MEP Ricardo Serrão Santos, he participated in trilogue meetings with the European Council and the European Commission. He maintains regular contact with the members of national representations to European institutions as well as with representatives of scientific, environmental and industrial interest groups, among others.
He served in the Regional Government of the Azores between 2006 and 2013 as Regional Director for the Environment and Sea Affairs and as director of the Azores Marine Park. During this period, the Azores natural parks and several new protected areas were established, including the classification of marine areas located beyond the Exclusive Economic Zone of Portugal and three Biosphere Reserves. The construction of several infrastructures provided for in the Strategic Plan for Waste Management of the Azores also began during this period.
He held different positions in the area of scientific research at IMAR Centre - Institute of Marine Research and at the Department of Oceanography and Fisheries of the University of the Azores between 1994 and 2006. After 2006, he continued to collaborate occasionally with these scientific institutions. In the scope of his scientific work, he studied shallow-water and deep-sea hydrothermal vents, invasive species, diverse marine environments, nature conservation, animal behaviour and development of marine instrumentation.
His scientific work also focused on different groups of organisms, including fish species, cephalopods and other marine invertebrates, algae, sea turtles, cetaceans and seabirds. He has attended numerous scientific meetings. He has led sea missions and published several articles in indexed journals. He has also cooperated in educational initiatives, teaching university courses and techniques in marine biology-related topics. He has been intensely involved in the dissemination of science and marine environmental education, publishing articles in newspapers and magazines and writing scripts for television programmes. He collaborates in underwater archaeology projects and practices diving with self-contained diving gear. For his efforts, he was recognised as "one of the top 100 diving personalities in Portugal" by Mundo Submerso magazine.
He writes occasionally for the regional media.
He is a member of several NGOs.