CONTRIBUTION
Established in 1996, the Fundación para la Conservación y Recuperación de Animales Marinos (CRAM) launched its “Fishers for the Sea” project in 2017 to further sea turtle recovery and conservation and minimize the impact of bycatch on these protected animals by rescuing and reintroducing affected individuals. Currently, 79% of the trawlers in La Ràpita and 100% in Les Cases d’Alcanar – the two hot spots of the deltaic platform – are actively collaborating in the project. A key resource in the initiative is the veterinary care provided at the Foundation’s Recovery Center in Prat de Llobregat. Each turtle recovered and diagnosed with decompression sickness –a pathology that can be lethal or leave major sequelae– spends a month and a half to two months at the center, with restricted visits whenever necessary although the organization belives it is important to let people see their work first hand in order to raise awareness.
After seven years, of the 355 specimens attended to in Tarragona province, 329 have been rehabilitated, representing a 93% recovery rate.