A dozen scientists from marine research institutes and universities in Mauritania, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Namibia, Mozambique, Seychelles and Mauritius have recently completed their training in identification and biological sampling of deep-sea benthic fauna, in a course held at the Faculty of Marine Sciences. Promoted by the FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the three-day workshop was taught by Fran Ramil, a professor and researcher at the Marine Research Center of the University of Vigo, with the support of the scientific team of the EcoAfrik project, the result of the collaboration between the Vigo academic institution and the Spanish Institute of Oceanography.
“The aim of the course, the first organised by FAO on this subject, was to provide basic scientific training that would allow African scientists to identify sponges and corals, the two most important groups as indicators of vulnerable marine ecosystems, in trawling campaigns,” explain Fran Ramil and Ana Ramos, researcher at the Spanish Institute of Oceanography, who regret that more scientists were not able to participate in the workshop due to problems obtaining their visas. For his part, Edoardo Mostarda, head of activities related to training on vulnerable species and biodiversity at FAO in Rome, attended the course representing the international organisation.
FAO concern about the adverse effects of deep-sea fishing on biodiversity
The workshop held on the Vigo campus is part of the actions carried out by the FAO since 2006 when it echoed the concern of international organizations, in particular the United Nations, about the adverse effects of deep-sea fishing on biodiversity and seabed ecosystems. “To address the problem, the FAO published a series of international guidelines with the aim of serving as a reference and encouraging countries and regional fisheries commissions to make efforts for the sustainable use of living marine resources, the prevention of negative impacts of fishing on deep-sea ecosystems and the protection of biodiversity,” Ramil and Ramos detail.
The existence of benthic ecosystems with complex three-dimensional biogenic structures that host a high biological diversity in the continental shelf has been an important scientific discovery made in recent decades. It is currently known that these ecosystems, formed mainly by sponges and cnidarians, including cold-water coral reefs, seamounts and canyons, sponge beds and gorgonian forests, are highly vulnerable to the impacts of fishing, hence they are known as Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs).
“The EcoAfrik team has extensive experience in the study of biodiversity and benthic ecosystems in Africa, particularly in deep waters, and is developing a training program for African scientists in the research and conservation of biodiversity in benthic habitats, which seeks to transfer the knowledge acquired over 15 years in third countries,” point out Ramos and Ramil, who recall EcoAfrik’s collaboration with FAO activities, related, in particular, to training through its participation in campaigns, working groups and workshops of the EAF-Nansen program.
Source: DUVI
