A Russian research vessel affiliated with the Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO), the STM Atlantis, has docked at the port of Casablanca to conduct research on certain types of fish within the Moroccan Atlantic fishing zone, according to the Russian website “portnews.ru.”
As part of a collaboration with Morocco’s National Institute for Fisheries Research, Russian and Moroccan researchers will gather data regarding the renewal of small fish populations, including European sardines, eastern mackerel, European mackerel, and West African mackerel, while also evaluating the condition of their marine environment.
Specialists from the Atlantic branch of VNIRO and the National Institute for Fisheries Research held joint discussions on board the ship regarding the research and the implementation of upcoming collaborative Russian-Moroccan research activities within the Moroccan Atlantic fishing zone.
This comprehensive assessment of small pelagic fish replenishment in Moroccan waters is part of a bilateral marine fisheries agreement between Russia and Morocco, signed in September 2020 in Rabat and Moscow, following the third session of the Russian-Moroccan Joint Fisheries Commission on May 17, 2023.
The renewal survey is scheduled to take place October through November of this year in the waters of the Moroccan region, ranging from 32°20′ (Cape Safi) to 21°00′ north (Cape Blanc), according to the website.
The STM Atlantis (K-1704) was built in 1987 at the shipyard in Stralsund, Germany. The vessel’s crew is comprised of approximately 40 individuals, including 11 scientific researchers. The vessel is capable of conducting research trawls using bottom and pelagic trawls at depths of up to 1,300 meters.