On the 21st, 23rd and 24th of May, our team participated in the IV Biology Conference in São Tomé, which was about "Sustainable ecosystem management and environmental sanitation". Organized by the Department of Science and Technology of the Higher Polytechnic Institute (ISP) of the University of São Tomé and Príncipe (USTP) in partnership with the Coordinators of the Degree in Biology, this event was a great opportunity to learn about ongoing research in the country. We were very pleased to present the activities of our project in the context of the management of marine resources, highlighting the most diverse challenges in artisanal fishing in Príncipe.

In April, we started a maturity study of the Golden African Snapper (Lutjanus fulgens) in partnership with Forever Principe - a conservation tourism program by Africa's Eden. This predatory species is one of the four snapper species of the genus Lutjanus that exist in Principe’s waters, and there's no information on its growth, diet or reproductive biology. As other snappers, Lutjanus fulgens probably reproduces through spawning aggregations, which makes it especially sensitive to overfishing. Through this study, we aim to better understand the biology of this species. When fishers arrive from fishing, four traders buy the fish from them and send it to the laboratory at Belo Monte, where we take samples of the gonads, fins, otoliths and stomach content. The samples will be taken to the University of Exeter for a histological analysis, to determine the maturity stage of the fish and its age, amongst other variables. This study will be done over several months and this information will be useful for a better management of Principe’s fisheries.