Within the framework of a new meeting of the Aquaculture Technical Advisory Commission (CATA), dependent on the Nation's Undersecretary of Fisheries and Aquaculture, the project to equip the Ushuaia Marine Toxins Laboratory was approved.
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The meeting was chaired by the national director of Aquaculture, Guillermo Abdala, and included the participation of the Minister of Production and Environment of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and the South Islands, Sonia Castiglione.
"In the particular case of mussel farming in Tierra del Fuego, the project under treatment will complement the investments of entrepreneurs of various sizes, in such a way that the projected production for 2025 would reach between 3,500 and 4,500 tons per year, adding 250 jobs to the scheme formally, with more than 12,000,000 dollars in foreign currency," said the Undersecretary of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Carlos Liberman.
For his part, Abdala pointed out: "The province is an example of diversified and sustainable aquaculture development, which has the greatest projection in the cultivation of aquatic proteins for consumption through a multitrophic production matrix of bivalve molluscs, with a commercial and quality approach. ".
"In order to make these potentialities effective, it is extremely important that the national policy for the sustainable development of aquaculture be able to adapt to the characteristics and particularities of each productive region, effectively applying the promotion and development tools provided for in the Promotion and Development Regime for the growth of the Aquaculture Sector (Law 27,231)," added Abdala.
The Commission was established in the hall of the House of the Province to exchange with national and provincial scientific experts and, later, to evaluate the project presented by the province together with the members of INTA, SENASA, INIDEP, INTI and the Ministry of Environment. and sustainable development.
The initiative, which reaches $19,356,239, is focused on strengthening capacities for the monitoring and follow-up of mussel production in the province. The financing will be made through the National Fund for the Development of Aquaculture Activities (FONAC), once the signing of the agreement has been completed.
In this sense, the core of the project consists of enhancing the value of the Toxin Laboratory, which implies incorporating specific monitoring equipment for the sustainability of the Classification System for Bivalve Mollusc Production Areas.
In addition, it seeks to consolidate a preventive program for the early detection of indicators of harmful algal blooms that affect aquaculture production.
In this way, the sustainable development of Fuegian mussel farming will be promoted, making it possible for it to be able to track and monitor the local production of mussels.
Thus, the costs inherent to these activities, which have a direct impact on the competitiveness of the undertakings, will be significantly reduced, while at the same time accompanying the initiative of local producers.
Under this line of work proposed in the Technical Advisory Commission for Aquaculture (CATA), enterprises dedicated to mussel farming in the rural town of Puerto Almanza were also visited to continue the exploration of the base state and subsequent control of the initiatives to be financed. locally, as well as the sustainability of the activity in productive, environmental, health, economic and social terms. ■