A partnership that allowed us to improve our knowledge on sea turtles in their marine habitat and its interaction with local small-scale fisheries.

Several volunteer fishermen of different types of local small-scale fisheries had been participating in data collection based on sea turtle sighting in the coastal areas of São Tomé. Using a small GPS tracker, fishermen had been responsible for collecting data on sea turtle species, life stage and behavior on every sighting during their fishing operation. This study not only allowed us to identify fishing grounds per each type of small-scale fisheries but also to identify sea turtle high-use areas in the coastal waters of sea turtles and areas with a great interaction between each species of sea turtle and the different types of small-scale fisheries around the island.