Argentina's Fisheries Research and Development Institute, INIDEP, has signed the contract for the construction of a new fisheries and oceanographic research vessel to be built at the Armon shipyard in Vigo, Spain. The financing for the vessel and refurbishing of INIDEP's offices and labs comes from the Inter-American Development bank with a 30m dollars loan.
Falkland Islands fishing company Fortuna Ltd has become a sponsor and research partner in a PhD student ship on southern blue whiting. The Falkland Islands Government fisheries Department (FIFD) and the South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute (SAERI) are also collaborators in this research project.
THIS year will be marked as one of the most successful years in the history of the Falkland Islands fishery with several record catches registered and the total catch of all species in Falkland waters this month reaching a record of 451,000 tonnes.
The Falkland Islands Fisheries Department has reported this year that squid fishing generated the largest annual capture since records began, representing a major boost to the Islands economy.
A lack of cooperation from Argentina to share data means that the total Illex fishery for the region is not known and affects the accuracy of seasonal predictions in the Falklands fishery, it was reported at the Fisheries Committee on Thursday.
The Falkland Islands new Fisheries Department building adjacent to the Agriculture Department was officially opened by the Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Jeremy Browne during his recent visit to the Islands.