R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen Survey Programme for 2018
The new R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen is equipped for advanced and multidisciplinary marine research and has been available to the Programme from early May 2017.
 |
In 2018 the vessel will execute surveys in the Western Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal, covering the waters of South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand.
Different types of surveys will be carried out including: ecosystem surveys with focus on the abundance and distribution of pelagic and demersal resources from South Africa to Tanzania, an environmental survey in Mozambique, surveys for mesopelagic fish between Tanzania and the Seychelles and in the Bay of Bengal, bottom habitat studies and identification of VMEs of the Mascarene Plateau, and an oceanographic transect from Mauritius to Sri Lanka. In the second half of 2018, in addition to the mesopelagic work described above, a regional coverage of resources and ecosystem is expected to cover the EEZs of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand.