Friend of the Sea says that onsite monitoring is of quintessential importance to the organisation and, currently, FOS Monitors cover Costa Rica, Morocco, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.
Luiza Prestes de Souza has recently started to work as an onsite FOS Monitor covering the Brazilian and Amazonian regions. She thoroughly tracks the chain of custody of Amazon river products which have been certified and produced by the company Noronha Pescados: Amazonian Cod Fish/Pirarucu, Peacock Bass, Cat Fish, Yellow Croacker, Amazonian Bass, Tiger Fish and Silver Arowana. All these fish species originate from quota managed reserves and artisanal fisheries.
In this process, Prestes de Souza also verifies that botos - Amazon River Dolphins - are not killed for bait by local fishermen supplying Friend of the Sea certified products. This is in fact a deadly practice still performed by a limited number of fishermen, which is endangering the botos’ population. Prestes de Souza says that she is happy to be a part of the Friend of the Sea project: “Conservation and sustainability is important to me being from Manhaus, I am delighted to be able to do my part in conserving Brazil’s unique marine life for the future.”
