The activity of the fishermen is concentrated in the water areas of the lagoons that covers about 7 thousand hectares, with little depth.

Chilean and Uruguayan researchers will evaluate vulnerability of pink shrimp to climate change

URUGUAY
Wednesday, September 11, 2019, 06:30 (GMT + 9)

The Eastern Regional University Center (CURE, Uruguay) and the Interdisciplinary Center for Aquaculture Research (INCAR, Chile) will jointly develop a project to assess the vulnerability of pink shrimp to climate change.

The project, entitled ‘Strengthening of capacities to assess vulnerability of pink shrimp fisheries to climate change in coastal areas of Uruguay’, will be implemented between 2019 and 2021, within the framework of the South-South Cooperation (CSS) program between Uruguay and Chile.

Pink shrimp of Rocha, its scientific name is Farfantepenaeus paulensis and they are known as "prawns from the lagoon"

Pink shrimp (Farfantepenaeus paulensis) is an important artisanal fishing resource in southeastern Brazil and Uruguay, which uses brackish coastal lagoons in much of its post-larval growth. Annual recruitment to the fishery is strongly dependent on climate and oceanographic variability.

Through international cooperation between Uruguay and Chile, this pilot project proposes strengthening institutional capacities to address the small-scale fishery of pink shrimp in coastal areas of the Uruguayan Atlantic coast, and assess its vulnerability to climate change and interannual climate variability (ie El Niño-La Niña events), analyzing its effects on the environmental, economic and social dimensions linked to this fishery in two coastal lagoons (Castillos and Rocha).

The lagoons of Rocha state (yellow) is the natural habitat of the pink shrimp

“This project represents a commitment to the active participation of CURE in two ways. First, it contributes to the construction and democratization of knowledge. Second, to look for the necessary ways for the empowerment of this knowledge by society, with the impact aimed at improving people's quality of life and contributing to the sustainable management of marine resources and the protection of coastal coastal ecosystems Uruguayan Atlantic,” explained Dr. Rodolfo Vögler, Assistant Professor at CURE and responsible for the project.

“This is the first time that a formal cooperation link is established between CURE and INCAR. We are confident that this cooperation project represents the foundation stone to begin the path towards a close exchange between both partner institutions. Our colleagues in Uruguay are especially interested in the experience of our Center researchers in the ecosystem approach to fisheries and aquaculture, as well as in assessing the vulnerability of communities dependent on hydrobiological resources to climate change. For INCAR, strengthening cooperation ties with Latin American research institutions is a priority,”, emphasized the director of the INCAR Center, Dr. Renato Quiñones, who is the co-responsible for the project.

The interdisciplinary team of Uruguayan participants is made up of CURE teaching staff - Rocha and Maldonado headquarters (two marine biologists, an anthropologist, an economist), as well as a social worker and a lawyer. The Chilean participants are Dr. R. Quiñones and Dr. Doris Soto, both principal researchers at INCAR and responsible for research lines linked to Environmental Sustainability and Integrative Program.

This project was one of 7 projects selected from more than 40 submitted for the 2019 call of the CSS program.

editorial@seafood.media
www.seafood.media

Print