Ze Luis's family needs your support to survive

Our beloved Ze Luis Monteiro, friend, colleague, awesome dad and husband, MarAlliance fisher partner and community coordinator in Cabo Verde disappeared at sea while transporting his fish catch from Boa Vista to Sal on the night of March 13th. I know Ze Luis as an exceptional person with a great joie de vivre, a wonderful sense of humour, a great connector and dancer (he introduced many of us to the Funana). Ze Luis' was a patriarch fisher and seaman, whose keen curiosity led him to become a serious researcher and educator who worked hard to balance fishing and shark conservation.

He set out to sea with two colleagues in his trusty boat, Stephanie, named after his eldest daughter and emblazoned with a shark.

They carried their fish to sell in Sal, the island to the north of Boa Vista, hoping to get a better price. Stephanie did not survive the onslaught in conditions that changed dramatically into 10ft+ waves and 23kt winds. His last call to Boa Vista indicated he knew they were in dire trouble. Repeated calls to his phone afterwards were not answered.

Rough seas have prevailed since that last call and have challenged all sea-based attempts at a search and rescue. A search plane from the Canary Islands was mobilised, and Joao and Elton, other partner fishers, climbed aboard to help the search from 280m in altitude, their eagle eyes keenly looking for any sign of the men. His distinctive cooler was recently found and identified floating off the island of Ilha Brava, 225 km away. No sign of the boat or of Ze Luis and his friends.

Ze Luis's lovely wife Anizita and their adorable, smart kids, Stephanie, Zeyla and Zeddy, are in shock and struggling at his loss. Yet, we, the living, need to forge ahead. Anizita, Stephanie Zeyla, and little Zeddy need our help to survive the coming year without income in a country barely emerging from the pandemic's brutal social and economic impacts.

I would be hugely grateful for any donations you could make in Ze Luis' memory that would support his struggling wife and children. Your generosity will make a massive difference to the family's survival at this challenging time. We all miss him terribly.

With a heartfelt thank you for your support,

Rachel