The Fiji Turtle Steering Committee chair Aisake Batibasaga said the 2 day workshop which commenced today at the Tanoa Plaza in Suva is designed to bring relevant stakeholders together to convince them to put more effort in implementing Fiji’s sea turtle recovery plan.

Mr Batibasaga said although they haven’t finalised the actual number of turtles nesting in Fiji, current evidence suggest that turtles are coming back but they still need to confirm that statistically.

“There is a ban on sea turtle harvest in Fiji until 31^st December 2018. We found out that we and the stakeholders should do more to recover the sea turtle population in the country”, Batibasaga said.

The Fisheries Protection of Turtles Amendments 2010 says that “no person shall in any way molest, take or kill turtles of any species, or sell , offer, or expose for sale of and export any turtle shell, flesh or derivatives thereof, or even digging up eggs and consuming them.”

Batibasaga said the maximum penalty is $400 fine which is not strong enough.  He said they are now trying to rope in other stakeholders who have not been contributing in the past to strengthen the aim of implementing Fiji’s sea turtle recovery plan.

“I am grateful to most of our stakeholders who have been very active in taking our message down to villages and educating the people on the protection of sea turtles like the World Wild Life Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Fiji Locally Managed Marine Association and others.”

Global researches on sea turtle have shown that their population has been declining at alarming rates in recent decades. In some areas there is clear indication that they are under threat of extinction due to human activities.

Threats currently facing sea turtles include destruction of reefs, loss of nesting beaches, pollution of oceans, over harvesting, poaching of turtle eggs, death in driftnets, gillnets, trawling nets, and mysterious fatal disease.

The 2 day workshop is being organised by the Fisheries Department in partnership with World Wild Life Fund for Nature.

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