RABAT, November 27. /TASS/. Russian and Guinean scientists have begun research in the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Guinea as part of the Great African Expedition, head of the representative office of the Federal Agency for Fisheries in Morocco, Mikhail Tarasov, told TASS.

"The research vessel Atlantis has entered the Guinean port of Conakry. A ceremony to open the Guinean part of the Great African Expedition was held on board in the presence of Russian Ambassador to the Republic of Guinea Alexey Popov and Minister of Fisheries and Marine Economy of the Republic of Guinea Fatima Camara," he noted.

According to Tarasov, scientists from the two countries held a meeting to agree on the program of upcoming research. To coordinate the activities, specialists from the National Institute of Fisheries Research were taken on board the vessel. Also, representatives of the Russian community residing in Guinea visited the Atlantis vessel.

 

Strategic and long-term cooperation

 

"The survey of underwater bioresources that has begun is being carried out as part of the agreement signed in September 2018 between the governments of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Guinea on cooperation in the field of fisheries and aquaculture, which gave a new impetus to our relations. Cooperation on fisheries between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Guinea has been developing for more than 40 years and is of a strategic and long-term nature," Tarasov went on.

 

In addition to the scientific and technical cooperation, over the past few years, preliminary conditions for the fishing of Russian vessels in Guinean waters have been agreed upon.

As noted by the leadership of the Russian part of the expedition, its main tasks, in particular, include performing a trawl survey to assess the biomass of demersal aquatic biological resources, collecting data to study the biological characteristics and size-age composition of demersal fish and invertebrate species, performing a set of works to study the hydrometeorological, oceanographic and hydro-chemical conditions for the formation of zones of increased bio productivity of waters in the work areas, collecting samples to study the qualitative and quantitative species composition of phyto, zoo-, ichthyoplankton.

 

About Great African Expedition

 

The official start of the Great African Expedition was given on August 21 in the sea fishing port of Kaliningrad. The expedition includes research work in the coastal waters of 18 states of West Africa and the western part of the Indian Ocean. The research vessel Atlantniro will conduct research in the areas of Morocco, Mauritania, Nigeria, Cameroon, Sao Tome and Principe, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, the Republic of Congo, Angola. The research vessel Atlantis will carry out work in the sea waters of Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, the Republic of Guinea, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Madagascar, Mauritius, Oman, Eritrea. The scientific team of each vessel consists of 12 qualified scientists specializing in the field of acoustic, oceanographic, hydro-chemical, hydrobiological and ichthyological research. Scientists from coastal countries of Africa are also involved in the expedition. Such research has not been conducted since the 1980s. Scientists will present up-to-date data on aquatic bioresources, which will make it possible to discover new fishing areas.