12,000 juvenile shrimp will be released into Choapa River
February 11th, 2021Today, Friday October 30
Fisheries Development Institute (IFOP) in conjunction with Coquimbo Regional Government, Universidad Católica del Norte, Consultora Cesso, a.g. Illapel’s schrimp collectors, s.t.i. illapel shrimp farmers carry out “consolidation program for aquaculture fishing strategy of northern river shrimp in the Choapa river basin project .”
The Program’s general objective is to consolidate a management plan proposal for northern river shrimp, considering an ecosystemic approach, participatory and incorporating technology transfer at a pilot level for its cultivation and repopulation in the Choapa river basin, Coquimbo Region.
Mg. Carlos Velásquez IFOP Coquimbo semi-senior researcher and in charge of the project ‘s technical execution explained “this species supports an extractive and gastronomic activity in Choapa Province and represents an important component of its communities cultural identity which subsist on it. Today, shrimp populations are highly threatened, facing the worst drought in the last 10 years in the north-central area of our country, which is accentuated by strong anthropic intervention in river channels. Therefore, it is urgent to design and develop, together with associated users, conservation actions aimed at supporting local decision-making, giving greater resilience to it and its extraction in a context of great environmental vulnerability.
To reduce uncertainty associated with local species sustainability, a release of approximately 12,000 juvenile shrimp will take place today, Friday, October 30th, in Choapa River. This event is a faithful reflection of joint effort between IFOP, Universidad Católica del Norte, shrimp organizations and the multisectoral governance of the Program, led by Choapa Provincial Government and constituted by the authorities with sectorial interference in social development and fisheries and local hydric management, and represents a unique milestone for continental waters in the north of Chile ”.
Alejandro Dal Santo, Coquimbo IFOP headquarters head , referred to the work carried out by IFOP “the work that the institute has been carrying out has been a great challenge and a learning process; its aim is to lay the foundations for a probable development of the river shrimp fishery considering a perspective that contains artisanal harvesting, a potential promotion of aquaculture activity and a degree of legal certainty for the whole. In this space, it is important to highlight that currently extractive activity is established and projected in continental water courses, in the midst of the phenomenon called climatic change and in a local environment of hydric scarcity.
As an institute, we are grateful for the trust placed by Regional Government GORE IV Region to implement this proposal, as well as the participation of Illapel shrimp farmers organizations, which have been generous in the cultural transmission of their knowledge.
We hope that, in April 2021, the program will be concluded and the results available; It will undoubtedly be an opportunity to discuss, plan and execute elements of a future extractive fisheries policy in freshwater waters, in accordance with the current FAO recommendations on this matter ”.
