Between June 2nd and 5th, at the SHOA facilities in Valparaíso, the opening ceremony of the 29th Joint Regional Cruise 2026 and the meeting of the 19th Specialized Database Working Group (GTE-BD) of the Permanent Commission for the South Pacific (CPPS) took place. IFOP was represented by its Executive Director, fisheries engineer Luis Parot Donoso; the head of the oceanography section, oceanographer Hernan Reyes; and Dr. Jaime Letelier, head of the oceanography department.
Presiding over the opening ceremony were Salvador Vega Telias, Secretary General of the CPPS; Commander Edwin Pinto Uscocovich, Director of Scientific Affairs and Fisheries Resources; and the host, Commander Zuñiga, Director of the Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Chilean Navy (SHOA). Representatives from Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, and Chile also participated.
At this meeting, IFOP Oceanographer Hernan Reyes assumed the role of Coordinator for the cruises on behalf of Chile for the 2026-2027 period. The 2026 and 2027 schedule was finalized, and proposals for joint work within the framework of the CPPS were analyzed.
The presenters emphasized the crucial importance of the joint cruise, where the cruises of each member country are key to monitoring the local impacts of ENSO events, especially in their early stages, and the abundance and distribution of fishery resources in the Humboldt Current ecosystem.
