DINARA will add a new vessel for scientific, biological and oceanographic surveys
With the ship Betelgeuse, which will be launched into the river between the coming months of August and September, “We will access places where we were not able to do so today,” highlighted the national director of Aquatic Resources (DINARA), Álvaro Irazoqui.
The vessel will allow, among other benefits, to study the coastal populations of juvenile fish species in the coastal strip of the Río de la Plata and the Atlantic Ocean, and the Uruguay River.
Between August and September, the construction of the light vessel Betelgeuse, belonging to DINARA, will be completed, Irazoqui, head of that department of the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP), announced to Presidential Communication this Tuesday the 11th.
The ship is built in naval aluminum at the national Nitromar SA shipyard and will be 12 meters long, 3.5 meters wide and 0.80 meters deep. It will enable the entity to carry out scientific, biological and oceanographic surveys in coastal and shallow (low) waters. In this way, technicians will be able to study coastal populations of juvenile species. “Investigating the biomass of juveniles of different species will provide inputs for the projection of resources,” said the interviewee.
“We will access places where we were not able to do so today,” said Irazoqui. In that sense, he pointed out that the area of operations will be the coastal strip of the Río de la Plata and the Atlantic Ocean and continental waters, such as the Uruguay River and others. The Betelgeuse base will be the Santa Lucía marina, on the homonymous river, in San José.
Among the electronic elements that the boat will be equipped with, a side-scan sonar stands out, which in addition to fishing tasks, will facilitate the observation of the conditions of the sea floor and will allow measuring the salinity of the waters. It will also provide estimates of the so-called “ghost fishing”, that is, referring to fishing gear abandoned in the marine environment.
FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE DEVELOPMENT FUND
Irazoqui announced that DINARA prepared a draft decree that will be sent to other State agencies to regulate law number 19,175, known as the Fisheries Law, in order to create the Fisheries and Aquaculture Development Fund. In this way, the resources collected by the institution will be used for the development, research, training, promotion or internationalization of the sector.
