Since 2016, JUSTSEA has conducted more than 1,000 interviews with fishermen in fishing ports in Panama and Colombia to support the regional assessment of the nature and frequency of leatherback turtle bycatch and has participated in numerous regional projects and studies to better understand and address fisheries impacts on this critically endangered sea turtle population.

As part of their fisheries initiatives, JUSTSEA is working with 10 small-scale fishing associations in Tumaco and Buenaventura, Colombia, communities that have few resources and rely heavily on a fishery-based economy. With SWOT support they will continue providing port-side training and workshops to raise awareness on leatherback turtle bycatch, foster collaborative relationships with fishers, and promote data sharing and implementation of fishing practices to reduce interactions with leatherback turtles and/or minimize the impacts of interactions on the survivability of released turtles.