The Ministry of Agriculture in Lebanon and the National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS) are collaborating with the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to carry out scientific surveys on fisheries resources off the Lebanese coast with the aim to support the monitoring of fish stocks for better management of marine species of commercial value as well as assessing biodiversity richness.

The students from the Environmental Science Department under the auspices of the Marine and Coastal Resources Program at the Institute of the Environment – University of Balamand (MCR-IOE-UOB), joined Dr. Manal Nader (Director of the IOE and the MCR-IOE) and the multinational team on the scientific ship on October 15, 2022 for its trawling mission off the coast of Tripoli up to the Syrian border. Trawling was conducted on 50m and 150m depths, and the students participated fully in identifying, sorting, measuring and dissecting the collected marine organisms. ​