Manjula goes blogging...

As part of our project to assess the impact of local fisheries on sea turtle populations in the waters of Morocco, our collaborators, Prof. Mustapha Aksissou (second from left with his son) and his wife, Wafae Benhardouze (also in the photos), of Tetouan, Morocco, have been distributing datasheets (in French and Arabic), measuring tapes, and disposable cameras to fishermen in northwestern Morocco to document turtles caught in their nets/hooks.

The cooperation of and feedback from the fishermen has been encouraging and the number of fishermen involved continues to grow. As sea turtles are generally not a targeted species, there appears to be less political friction surrounding fisheries/sea turtle interactions in this region than elsewhere. And certainly the tireless efforts and dynamic involvement of Mustapha and Wafae in this project have contributed to establishing successful collaborations with the fishermen.