• The government delegate in Cantabria advances that in about two weeks will begin the rehabilitation works of the elevated tank of the building ‘Pez’ located in El Bocal
The government delegate in Cantabria, Pedro Casares, highlighted the commitment of the Government of Spain to the Santander Oceanographic Center, in which more than 100 people work and in more than 50 national and international scientific research.
Casares visited this Wednesday the facilities of this center, dependent on the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) and the Higher Council of Scientific Research (CSIC), together with its director, María Izaskun Preciado, and the vice-directors, Felipe Aguado and Elena Prado.
The delegate highlighted the “extraordinary work” that is carried out in “this reference center in applied research and scientific advice” and that is part of the 10 headquarters of the IEO in Spain. At this point, he recalled that the Santander Oceanographic Center has two facilities, the administrative building in San Martín and the crop plants in El Bocal.
Precisely, in these facilities on the north coast of Santander, the government delegate in Cantabria has advanced that will soon begin, in about two weeks, the rehabilitation works of the elevated tank in the building of ‘Pez’ of El Bocal, which will involve an investment of more than 150,000 euros.
In addition, Casares has advanced that from the Ministry of Science “we are also working on the integral reform of the facilities” of the IEO in El Bocal to undertake it “in the coming years”. “Everything so that this leading center at the national level continues to be so,” he said.
The government delegate has highlighted that at the IEO in Cantabria “they do science in two fundamental things, such as fishing and the conservation of the marine environment”.
This centre coordinates important national research programmes such as the assessment of fishery resources in the ICES area (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea); and programmes for the conservation and protection of the marine environment, such as the implementation of the European Union Framework Directive on Marine Strategies.
The Santander Oceanographic Center has also coordinated the INTEMARES project on marine protected areas; and ocean observation programs to study its temporal variability and trends, including the analysis of possible changes induced and related to global warming.
As for aquaculture, in recent years, this Oceanographic Center has specialized in multitrophic crops, implementing innovative methods of recirculation of sea water in its plant in El Bocal.
During her visit to the center, the director of the IEO in Cantabria has conveyed to the delegate the need to expand the space that she has in the center due to the increase in staff in recent years. “Science in Spain is buoyant, a lot of money has arrived in recent years and that has translated into an increase in staff,” he added.
In this regard, the government delegate has assured that he will work together with the management of the Santander Oceanographic Center to “ensure that physical space is not an impediment for research to continue growing in this center, as well as the number of researchers.”