Scientists of the IEO initiate the 'Medits Pitiusas 2025' campaign aboard the 'Miguel Oliver'

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fishing and Alimentation and the Spanish Institute (IEO) have initiated this Tuesday, August 19th, the 'Medits Pitiusas 2025' campaign to evaluate the fishing resources in the occidental Mediterranean.

The works of the scientific team of the IEO aboard the oceanographic research vessel 'Miguel Oliver' will be developed until next 29th.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fishing and Alimentation in a statement, the campaign will allow the biological study and characterization of the demersal fish groups and will analyze the impact of fishing in the ecosystems of the depth drafs around the Balearic Islands. 

A scientific team of the IEO has departed from the port of Palma de Mallorca aboard the vessel and will return on the 29th.

In concrete, the works will allow characterizing the communities and habitats of the area, examining the geomorphology of the seafloor, taking oceanographic data of the sea masses and studying trophic relationships between different species.

These campaigns have been systematically developed alongside these last years and form an important historical series as a base for the evaluation of different populations. 

Currently, these studies are integrated in the National Program of Basic Data of the fishing field (PNBD), for the sustainable management of sea resources, based on the obtaining of the best scientific possible data. 

The result of these evaluations are presented in the sinus of the work groups of the Assessing Scientific Committee of Mediterranean Fishing.

Aware of the necessity of counting with good scientific information in which fishing management measures are sustained, the General Secretariat of Fishing has pointed out the efforts to boost research campaigns aboard their oceanographic vessels.

This campaign answers to different internationally acquired commitments for the sustainable management of our seas and is co-financed by the European Union through the European Maritime Fishing and Aquaculture Fund (FEMPA).

The oceanographic vessels ‘Miguel Oliver’ forms, alongside the ‘Vizconde de Eza’ and the ‘Emma Bardán’, the fleet of research boats with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fishing and Alimentation.

This vessel, which has a 70 length and 12 of width, counts with cutting-edge technological equipment for sailing and for fishing and oceanographic research.

It’s equipped with three echo sounders, three radars and six labs, in addition to a sophisticated positioning and sailing system. It is qualified as an ecological and silent vessel by the Bureau Veritas society of classification and fulfills the ICES 209 normative regarding noise emission and vibrations in research boats.