Meet the scientists aboard this leg of the Nansen research voyage
- Scientists aboard the Nansen meet with Ghana’s President Akufo-Addo at the harbor ceremony in Tema, Ghana.
- Nigeria’s Dunsin Abimbola Bolaji was especially interested in the chance to strengthen his knowledge of fisheries technology for pelagic fish.
- Norwegian scientist Nawaraj Gautam called his time upon the Nansen a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The Nansen may be the most advanced marine research vessel of its kind in the world, but despite all its impressive technology and shiny laboratories, at the heart of this forty-three year FAO-Norway collaboration, it’s mostly been about the people.
The Nansen programme prides itself on bringing many scientists on board to observe and study their own waters. This research contributes not only to their professional development – allowing young scientists to gain relevant experience in their field – but it also helps to collect key data and research findings that can be used to make fisheries management fisheries management decisions at a national or regional level.
On this leg of the voyage, some of the scientists on board shared with us their experiences on board the Nansen:
Dunsin Abimbola Bolaji is a young Nigerian scientist who has spent three weeks on the vessel. “It’s a nice and exciting experience. During this survey voyage, my expectations have been met My area of interest is fisheries technology for pelagic fishing.
Now I understand the use of acoustic device for locating fish, how to interpret data from the device and also able to use electronic meters to collect and measure fish length.
I also learned a lot by using the Nansen software for collection and analyzing data.”
Nawaraj Gautam is a young Norwegian scientist.
He spoke about his experiences on board harvesting edible pelagic fishes from Ghanaian and Ivorian waters and studying them for contaminants analysis.
“This research provides us an overview of the contaminants in the fish in the region. It was hands-on research and extremely interesting - a once-in-a-lifetime experience aboard a boat.
We are lots of scientists on board working towards one common goal. A great experience indeed!”
- According to Benjamin Botwe, “This has been an excellent experience, allowing us to learn about fisheries conditions in Ghanaian waters.”
Benjamin Osei Botwe is a Ghanaian scientist and a student at the University of Ghana. “I wish to thank FAO for this opportunity. I am interested in assessment of diversity of fishes- their sex, maturity and genetic sampling. On the Nansen, I also researched water conditions, nutrients, salinity and distribution.” Botwe also discussed his work on board sorting the fish after the trawls and recording length and weight and different species, and how he gained experience dissecting and examining fishes. “This has been an excellent experience, allowing us to learn about fisheries conditions in Ghanaian waters.”
Victor Bénin, of Cote d’Ivoire’s Institut national de recherche et océanographie called his time on board “An extremely rich experience, filled with identifying species, recording data, and putting into action all that I’ve learned. The database will continue to be vital to us as we continue our marine research work in our own countries.” He added “I boarded with many fellow scientists from Cote d’Ivoire. We left from Liberia in August, and we passed through Dakar before arriving in Tema, Ghana. From here we will return home. We have learned to identify healthy ecosystems. Scientific research of our marine resources was at the center of our work on this vessel, but we also learned the imporance of sounding the warning bells about the worrisome amount of marine debris found in our oceans. Plastics in our oceans should be a concern to us all. ”
Thank you to these scientists for sharing their experiences aboard the Nansen with us. We look forward to hearing more as we follow them on their journey on the #EAFNansen.
- The Nansen docked in Tema, Ghana on 14 September.
