Southeast Asian countries have been recognized as one of major nesting sites for sea turtles in the world.  These reptiles are highly migratory and share several certain foraging habitats in Southeast Asian region.  Thus, regional cooperation among member countries in conserving sea turtles is vital to ensure their survival. In addition, regional effort should be undertaken to reduce the mortality especially due to accidental catch by fishing gears. This program is aimed to conduct several research activities to collect information of sea turtles in the foraging habitats, to reduce sea turtle mortality by fisheries, and to formulate the management plans of fisheries to protect sea turtles in this region.

          1. To collect ecological parameters of several pilot foraging habitats of sea turtles to study the key factors to manage these areas for sea turtle conservation,

          2. To collect, compile, and review information of sea turtles migration corridors, nesting/foraging habitats, and their population structures in the region by genetic, satellite tracking, and conventional tagging studies for conservation and enhancement of the sea turtle populations in the ASEAN region,

          3. To review fishing activities in the region which is possibly interacting with sea turtle populations in their foraging/nesting habitats and migration routes in space and time,

          4. To promote responsible fishing gears and practices by conducting commercial demonstrations and experimental trials of modified specific fishing gears to protect sea turtle populations in the region,

          5. To formulate and propose management plans on fishing activities and other activities to conserve and enhance sea turtle populations in the region based on the scientific information.