MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

South Georgia ‘area’ will be surveyed by Argentine scientific research vessel

Argentina’s INIDEP research vessel “Dr Eduardo L. Holmberg”

Argentina’s scientific research vessel “Dr. Eduardo L. Holmberg” left on Friday from Mar del Plata for the South Georgia area for a thirty day cruise in the framework of the Convention for the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources, CCAMLR, reports the Foreign Ministry from Buenos Aires.

The cruise with fourteen Argentine scientists will be working on a research project jointly elaborated by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, through the INIDEP, the National Institute for Fisheries Research and Development, and the Argentine Antarctic Institute which depends from the Foreign ministry.

“The campaign is in the framework of CCALMR, and in line with Decree 2116/1990 on national Antarctica policy which gives priority to scientific research linked to data on the environment and fisheries resources with the purpose of promoting conservation”, says the release.

“The main purpose is to obtain an estimate of the abundance and state of demersal species’ populations particularly ice fish, as well as collect material for environmental and histology studies of fish and benthonic invertebrates”.

The release affirms that the coordinated inter-institutional work will allow for better data collection and scientific research of the platform as well as assessing species populations and counting with the necessary information for Argentina’s presentations in different international forums.

Finally the campaign is clear evidence of Argentina’s “high commitment with the conservation of living resources in the South Atlantic in the framework of CCAMLR”