Pernambuco will allocate R$ 2 million to prevent shark attacks

After three shark attacks in less than two weeks, the government of Pernambuco announced an investment of BRL 2 million in prevention actions along the coast of the metropolitan region of Recife, as published in the Official Gazette of the State. Around R$ 1.5 million goes to the Port of Suape, which is located between the municipalities of Ipojuca and Cabo de Santo Agostinho, in Greater Recife. The remaining BRL 500,000 will be invested in studies, through an announcement by the Fundação de Amparo à Ciência e Tecnologia, to prevent sharks and also the invasion of lionfish, a species of fish from Asia that is bringing risks to the Brazilian coast . As the lionfish has no natural predators on the Brazilian coast, researchers have been warning that the uncontrolled growth of this species puts the balance of marine life at risk. The Federal Rural University of Pernambuco will also participate in this shark prevention work and should install twenty acoustic receivers to monitor the presence of sharks in the region; and 24 expeditions are planned to capture and mark the tiger, flathead and blacktip species. According to the university’s dean, Marcelo Leão, the institution has about 40 studies on sharks, but the partnership with Cemit, which is the State Monitoring Committee, was discontinued in 2015. The idea now, according to the dean, is resume the partnership, along with other public universities. “In addition to signing a protocol of intentions, we are restructuring Cemit, Rural is once again the protagonist. We suggest the participation of the Federal de Pernambuco and the University of Pernambuco, since it is a multidisciplinary problem that needs other knowledge and always adding these universities is an extremely important process”. The UFRPE fishing researcher, Ilka Branco, explained that the recent accidents occurred during a wide range of tides. This increases the likelihood of sharks entering the channel that exists on the coast. “It makes it more likely that sharks, in general, approach our coastline and we have this encounter with sharks”. According to the most up-to-date medical bulletin, the two teenagers who were victims of an attack this week remain hospitalized in stable health and do not expect to be discharged. They each had a limb amputated because of the severity of the attacks and show no signs of infection. >> Listen on Radioagência

Agência Brasil