He Ministry of Science prepares a reorganization of the public research system that will lead to the integration of the Institute of Oceanography at Superior Council of Scientific Investigations (CSIC). The government’s goal is to close the process early next year. The Oceanographic has one of its headquarters in A coruña.
The Ministry understands that this Institute was going through a crisis that had led to an administrative collapse. It guarantees that it will maintain all its centers, budgets and capacities for research and scientific advice. With this integration, the Government seeks that the Oceanographer can take advantage of the management capacity of the CSIC to alleviate the administrative burden that had paralyzed it. Staff, he adds, will not be affected.
The alert of the Xunta
Meanwhile, the Xunta warns of the risk of dismantling an essential service for Galicia for all the information it provides on fishing matters.
The Minister of the Sea, Rosa Quintana, understands that the integration of the Oceanographic in the CSIC is bad news. He demands that the government not dismantle it and that it reinforce it.
In this line, the acting Sea Minister highlighted the fundamental work of the IEO for the defense of the interests of the Galician and Spanish fleet before the European institutions, since the contribution of reports that support the state of the resources is transcendental in the decision making on fisheries management. It is also essential, she added, “for the sector itself, which needs scientists at its side to make assessments of the state of health in which the fisheries that constitute its livelihood are found.”
The Galician Government considers the commitment and real involvement of the central Administration in this matter necessary in order to reverse the situation of the IEO, since it is a strategic center for the development of marine research in Spain and has more than one hundred years of history. A commitment, asserted Rosa Quintana, which is vital to underpin marine research, especially those actions that have to do with monitoring the status of fishing species and in turn to allow Galicia to maintain the competitiveness of maritime-fishing activity.
The integration decision also affects the National Institute of Agricultural and Food Research and to Geological and Mining Institute. All will be integrated into the CSIC, which will become the public science center degree in Spain, according to the Government’s plans.
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