Our mission is to ensure the conservation of sea turtles in the Azores and their oceanic habitat in the North Atlantic through monitoring, research, environmental education, technical training and support for decision-making.
Objectives
- Collect data on the incidental catches of sea turtles in the Azores through fisheries observers;
- Collect biological and demographic data;
- Revitalize, restructure and consolidate the longstanding tagging and sampling programs ran by the IMAR/DOP;
- Promote best practices and reduce post-hooking mortality by providing information on safe handling and dehooking protocols to fishermen;
- Involve and stimulate local communities and tourists visiting the region to participate in conservation actions;
Partnership
COSTA project is funded by the Marine Turtle Conservation Fund of the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research (ACCSTR) and the Regional Directorate for Fisheries (DRP) of the Azores Government. COSTA is carried out by the Institute of Marine Research (IMAR) and the Azores Fisheries Observer Program (POPA) in collaboration with the Sea Observatory of the Azores (OMA), the Regional Directorate of Sea Affairs (DRAM) and the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria (IPL). Furthermore, we would like to emphasize the valuable collaboration of ship owners, captains and crews of the surface longline fleet, to whom we are very grateful.
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Team members
Former team members
