Senators from Fishing Commission meet aboard Abate Molina scientific vessel
18 July, 2018

Senators from Fishing Commission meet aboard Abate Molina scientific vessel

July 20th, 2018 Mario Loyola

Maritime Interests comission senators, Upper House Fisheries and Aquaculture Committee met on Wednesday, aboard Abate Molina scientific vessel, to learn about their in situ work.

The 28 years old vessel, which is fully operational, conducts marine resources research, which are essential for scientific committees of Subpesca work and vital in decision processes adopted according to their authorities outreach.

The ship was donated to Chile by Japan, it belongs to Fisheries and Aquaculture Undersecretariat and is operated by Fisheries Development Institute (IFOP).

The session was attended by Senators Rabindranath Quinteros (president of the commission), Adriana Muñoz, Carmen Gloria Aravena and Kenneth Pugh; the undersecretary of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Eduardo Riquelme; IFOP Executive Director, Luis Parot; and the council president from the same entity, Gabriel Yani.

The senators stressed out about fishing sector scientific work importance and raised the need to strengthen the country’s capacity in this area.

“The Senate Fisheries Committee is interested and concerned about contributing to fishery and aquaculture problems solutions and, in this context, we think it is particularly important to hold an on board session in a ship such as Abate Molina, which It is dedicated to hydrobiological resources research , “said Senator Quinteros.

Along with assessing congressmen visit to the vessel, Undersecretariat Riquelme stressed that today there are approved resources to acquire a smaller vessel that will allow coastal areas research development, where pelagic resources are concentrated.

Regarding Abate Molina vessel and considering that it is fully operational, Riquelme stressed that the Government is aware of the fact that the vessel has been in service for 28 years.

Luis Parot, IFOP executive director, meanwhile, said that the session is a very powerful signal, regarding the concern that exists to increase scientific research capacity in national sea.

“In Chile we are all very concerned about oceans conditions, for species preservation, long term resources conservationand, consequently, this is a very powerful signal that IFOP, Government and Senate, insofar as this is a cross-cutting issue that requires everyone’s concern, “Parot said.

The Abate Molina is 43 meters long (length) and is equipped with three laboratories, nets and other elements that allow it to collect samples of different types and at different depths.

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