The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food Sovereignty of the Government of the Canary Islands, Narvay Quintero, visited this Wednesday the Maritime Fisheries Vocational Training Institute (IFPMP) of Lanzarote, located in Arrecife, to receive the students of the third year of the Degree in Marine Sciences of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) and the Master's in Oceanography who are doing training practices on board the La Bocaina School Ship, owned by the Institute.
Within the framework of this initiative, which takes place from April 15 to 19, a total of 67 students from the subjects of Biological Oceanography, Geological Oceanography, Chemical Oceanography and Design and Implementation of Campaigns are following a training plan proposed by the teaching team of the Faculty, under the supervision of the ship's captain, in which sampling and in situ determinations of different parameters of interest for the study of the ocean are carried out.
During the visit, the head of the Department was accompanied by the general director of Fisheries, Armiche Ramos, the Minister of the Environment of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Samuel Martín, the dean of the Faculty, Miriam Torres, and the director of the IFPMP of Lanzarote, Carmen Déniz, who accessed the boat to learn the details of the training experience that the students are experiencing.
The regional minister explained that the Government of the Canary Islands and the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria are working on the elaboration of an agreement between both institutions with the aim of sharing teaching experiences in the maritime-fishing field and using the available material resources, such as La Bocaina, for this purpose.
“Cooperation is key to taking advantage of the modern infrastructures and equipment of both administrations, thus contributing to improving the quality of training for students of these two centers that are already a benchmark in the field of these higher education courses", he indicated.
The dean valued the commitment of the IFPMP to make this boat available to the Faculty and thus provide students with the opportunity to apply the knowledge acquired in the classrooms in a practical environment. In this sense, “the students will take samples with a rosette and carry out different analyses, both chemical and biological, and in addition, they will launch a fishing net that will allow them to sample zooplankton”, she added.
For her part, the director of the Institute described this training campaign as “a pedagogical tool of the first order”. She also pointed out that in the teachings of the maritime-fishing professional family, it is essential to integrate practice with theory, since providing knowledge about fishing, maneuvering and navigation without the possibility of putting them into practice “would be undermining training”.
Finally, the Minister of the Environment of the Island Council, Samuel Martín, congratulated the students and highlighted the importance of “a teaching center linked to the sea such as the School of Fisheries (IFPMP) having a ship of these characteristics, on an island with an enormous fishing tradition such as Lanzarote, as is the case with La Graciosa”.
Regarding financial commitments, the ULPGC has financed with 7,663.34 euros the construction and installation of a platform for an oceanographic winch. For its part, the General Directorate of Fisheries has been responsible for authorizing the performance of overtime derived from the development of this training campaign by the members of the crew of the vessel and the payment of the corresponding service commissions.
