Asociacion Procosta

Asociacion Procosta is an international non-profit organization registered to receive federal grant awards from the U.S. government. It has been registered in SAM.gov since January 2018 and is currently registered through July 2024.

Asociacion Procosta has received prime and sub-federal grant awards from the Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Region 9 Headquarters and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to conduct hawksbill turtle conservation programs and reduce bycatch in lobster fisheries in El Salvador and Nicaragua. Under these awards, Asociacion Procosta has carried out activities such as conducting community-based patrols and relocating nests to hatcheries, raising awareness through outreach events like the Hawksbill Festival and 'Day of the Hawksbill' events in schools, conducting year-round fisheries bycatch monitoring with on-board observers, testing LED light trials on lobster nets to determine deterrence effectiveness, and developing local capacity to strengthen a hawksbill ecotourism program. Specific projects have aimed to protect nesting beaches and reduce hawksbill bycatch in lobster gillnets, with goals such as protecting 300 nesters and 74,000 hatchlings at key beaches, and reducing mortality events in two lobster gillnet fisheries. Funding amounts for these projects have included a $359,499.66 prime grant award and sub-awards to work with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation on protecting nests, hatchlings, and conducting LED-equipped gillnet trials to assess bycatch reduction.