Official endorsement for SELFDOTT reproduction of bluefin tuna project

Official endorsement for SELFDOTT reproduction of bluefin tuna venture

Monday, February 28, 2011, 03:20 (GMT + 9)

The Ministry of Atmosphere, Rural and Marine Affairs (MARM) and the Ministry of Agriculture and H2o of Murcia will indication a cooperation agreement to assistance the SELFDOTT task (Self-sustained Aquaculture and Domestication of Bluefin Tuna), in purchase to reproduce captive bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) using aquaculture strategies.

This was announced by the head of the Secretary Basic of Marine Affairs, Alicia Villauriz.

The signing of the arrangement – coordinated by the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) – will get location next week.

Involved in this undertaking are thirteen government establishments, investigation institutes and sector associations from France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Malta, Norway and Spain.

The official stressed that Murcia is a pioneer in the improvement of bluefin tuna aquaculture.

Via the SELFDOTT task, scientists will try to total the production cycle for tuna in purchase to avoid dependence on seize fisheries thank you to new investigation.

Villauriz stated that &quotthe union among administrations, science, business and nongovernmental organizations is the best mix to meet the challenges arising from the compromised state of the bluefin tuna population.&quot

She stressed the progress associated to the information of the biology of bluefin tuna, that will give scientists the equipment to make a lot more correct assessments and kind the basis for determination creating, clarifies a press release by MARM.

In the European Union (EU), Spain has led the adoption of actions for the recovery and conservation of this resource, and has demanded strict compliance with them.

In November 2010, a team of researchers from the IEO did, for the very first time in Europe, adapt captive juvenile bluefin tuna in land-based services.

So considerably, this has only been reached with 4 species of tuna in Japan, Australia and the United States.

The venture is carried out by the researchers Fernando de la Gandara and Aurelio Ortega, as well as the technicians Juan Ramón Prieto and Javier Viguri, of the tuna farming team from the IEO.

The project will get area in the Marine Cultivation Plant of the Oceanographic Centre of Murcia, where they managed to adapt 20 juvenile bluefin tuna – caught off the coast of Murcia – to floor amenities.

By Analia Murias
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com