The project is aimed at preserving the biodiversity of the Ebro Delta protected area, especially the sea turtles that inhabit and transit the Mediterranean, working together with the fishing sector to design an effective action network, training fishermen and making them direct participants in the conservation and recovery of these species. This project is the result of the publication made in 2014 by García-Párraga et al. in which the decompression syndrome in sea turtles was described for the first time, which has led to the reformulation of the protocol of action in case of accidental fishing of turtles.

The protected area of the Ebro Delta is characterised by a large number of trawlers distributed among its four main fishing ports (San Carlos de la Rapita, L’Atmella de Mar, L’Ampolla, Les Cases d’Alcanar), with a total of 72 trawlers. Turtles accidentally caught with trawling can suffer from decompression syndrome and appear healthy. In these cases, if the animals are returned to the sea without receiving proper medical treatment, their chances of survival are significantly reduced. This is especially relevant in the Ebro Delta area, as there is specific legislation that allows nets to be set at a depth of less than 50 metres, the usual habitat of sea turtles.

To diagnose this pathology (decompression syndrome), tests must be carried out that require the patient to be transferred to the facilities of the CRAM foundation, and in case of suffering from it, the patient must be introduced into a hyperbaric chamber (the only chamber in the country specially designed for sea turtles has been in the CRAM Foundation since 2016). This new pathology, unknown until now, led to a rethinking of the protocol established in the case of accidental fishing by trawling (which indicated that in the event of catching an apparently healthy animal, it should be returned to the sea), so from the CRAM Foundation we value it as vitally important to transmit this new knowledge to fishermen.