Mexico’s National Fisheries Institute (INAPESCA) will be using three unmanned drones to gather information on areas suitable for aquaculture development in the country.
The information gathered will enable the Institute to design strategies to give greater impetus to aquaculture - especially in regions that are difficult to access, or remote from the coastal shores of the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico. Inland waters such as lakes and ponds will also be considered.
Use of this high-tech equipment will also make it possible to measure chemical, physical and microbiological water variables such as temperature, chlorophyll, oxygen, algal blooms and salinity, and other parameters that help determine its quality and suitability for aquaculture.
The drones have a high resolution camera and can also determine the shape and area of coastal and inland bodies of water.
They can also be used for remote sensing studies in agricultural areas that are difficult to access, in order to obtain valuable information to define types of surfaces, crop status and detection of potentially productive areas.
The information captured will be integrated into a database and image catalogue and will be available to researchers and institutions dedicated to research in aquaculture, fisheries and agricultural production.
The first planned assessments are the ‘cannonball’ (Stomolophus meleagris) fishery in Sonora and the sea cucumber fishery in Yucatán.
