Angola to create protected marine areas to preserve fishery resources

LUANDA, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Angolan government will create integrated protected marine areas to ensure the preservation of vital energy resources and maintenance of food chains, biodiversity, fish production and help in the conservation of fishery resources.

This was announced on Tuesday in Luanda by the Angola's Minister of Fisheries and Sea, Victoria de Barros Neto, who was addressing the opening of the workshop on the management of protected marine areas.

According to her, scientific research is key to identifying these areas and in providing guidelines so that managers can create and implement management measures for conservation.

The Angolan coastal zone has very sensitive and fragile areas from an environmental point of view, such as estuaries and mangrove systems, important for the growth of many commercially valuable fish species, the minister said.

At the opening of this workshop, which is running until Thursday, as part of the technical cooperation program between the Angolan and Norwegian governments, the minister also stressed the strategic importance of the Angolan coastal zone.

The ministry has already cataloged some sensitive areas for protection, according to the national director of Fisheries and Protection of Fishery Resources of Angola, Maria de Lurdes Sardinha.

"There are numbers, and what we have left is just to integrate. For example, we have a lot of palm-sensitive systems here, the Benguela cold current, the shrimp protection zone and what we're going to do is integrate them," she said.

The workshop on management of protected marine areas brings together various users of the national ecosystem, including oil and gas exploration companies, transport, tourism industry, environment and members of the Norwegian Embassy in Angola.

Researchers from the Agostinho Neto University in Luanda and the University of Aveiro in Portugal are also participating in the event. Enditem