A team of researchers from the National Fisheries Institute (Inapesca) launched an oceanographic monitoring system using satellite imagery to know the weather conditions in national waters and obtain information for planning fishing activities on both coasts of Mexico.
By analyzing satellite images, scientists look for better utilization and sustainability of marine resources in the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean.
According to the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (Sagarpa), the studies would determine some of the causes that influence fish production. Besides, they will help establish measures for the conservation of fishery resources.
Satellite images are captured by the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) sensor installed on the Aqua satellite, which is part of the system of earth observation using NASA.
Inapesca experts can have access to these data through the collaboration of the National Biodiversity Commission and the Institute of Marine Sciences and Limnology of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
The data collected are stored in a newly created marine newsletter. This publication describes the oceanographic conditions of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Mexico and adjacent seas, which are used as indicators of the sea surface temperature and the presence of chlorophyll, Sagarpa reported.
This newsletter includes not only monthly average images but also a brief description of the distribution of both variables (sea surface temperature and chlorophyll) and its anomalies.
With this information, researchers can check if the temperature (or chlorophyll) in a particular month was higher or lower than the average of the same period in previous years.
The newsletter will also include:
The description of climate indices of global events (El Niño) and the presence of meteors (cold fronts and hurricanes);
Updating the description of the environmental conditions in the national seas;
Numeric data;
The description of environmental variability of areas having fishing and aquaculture importance in the last decade.
Additionally, in the medium term and with the help of other specialists, the impact of environmental changes on the variations, abundance and distribution of the organisms will be analysed by prolonged time series.
Sagarpa expects that this will have a prognosis of fishery and aquaculture production of some resources, mainly from those which have a short life cycle, such as shrimp.
The idea is that in the long term, this information will help to raise the possible scenarios that serve to define adaptation measures with a view to optimal development of the fishing activity.
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