Dr. Carlos Molinet, researcher of the Integrative Program at the INCAR Center and Academic at Universidad Austral de Chile (UACh), Puerto Montt campus, has been awarded the FIPA 2023-1 Project “Characterization and ecological and genetic evaluation of natural mussel banks and their contribution to the availability of larvae for seed collection activity, Stage 1: Reloncaví Fjord and the communes of Hualaihué and Castro”. The project is sponsored by Universidad Austral de Chile and has the INCAR Center and IFOP as associated institutions. The objective of the project is to conduct an ecological and genetic evaluation of the main natural mussel banks in the Reloncaví Estuary and the communes of Hualaihué and Castro, and determine their contribution to larval availability for seed collection activity. The specific objectives of the project are as follows:
1. Identify the main natural mussel banks in the Reloncaví Fjord and the communes of Hualaihué and Castro.
2. Conduct a general assessment of the natural banks, considering abundance, coverage, density, biomass, vertical distribution, sexes, size structure, and associated community, with emphasis on different species that may affect the mussel banks.
3. Genetically characterize the natural banks, considering the vertical gradient, using SNP markers, to support the traceability of different species of the genus Mytilus present in the study area and identify possible banks with populations or individuals of exotic species.
4. Generate a high-throughput sequencing tool that allows for the establishment and correlation of the geographical origin of new recruits in the natural banks and the seeds collected in the collectors, in relation to previously identified natural banks.
