2023-07-14 18:28:29
The owner of a fish shop, east of Cairo, caused a great deal of controversy following he displayed a rare “sea gear” turtle, which is forbidden to be caught, among his fish exhibits, which prompted the authorities to act, according to what an official in the Ministry of Environment confirmed to “Sky News Arabia”.
The story began with the spread of pictures on social media of the turtle displayed in a fish shop in one of the popular markets east of Cairo, and the photo-taker confirmed that it was in a deplorable condition, and children and passers-by were messing with it, and he appealed to the authorities to intervene.
The Ministry of the Environment is moving
And the CEO of the Environmental Affairs Agency in Egypt, Dr. Ali Abu Sunna, revealed in statements to “Sky News Arabia” that as soon as the aforementioned images were monitored and an attempt to trade in rare marine gear was directed, the Minister of Environment directed to examine the matter, and a committee was formed from the Environmental Affairs Agency and the eastern region of Cairo Governorate. And representatives of the concerned authorities, and move to take the necessary action.
The turtle is in the fish shop
The turtle is in the fish shop
He explained that the turtle had already been seized displayed in a fish store in the Al-Mataria neighborhood, and it was recovered and was in poor condition, and it is one of the rare and endangered species, and it is being returned to its appropriate marine environment in the Red Sea in the Ain Sukhna region, following ensuring its safety and ability to continue a normal life before the operation. launch.
He noted that it was enough to confiscate and recover the marine gear without issuing a report once morest the owner of the fish shop, noting at the same time that the owner of the shop confirmed that he was not aware that it was forbidden to catch such a turtle, and that he was only offering it to attract customers.
Rare turtle
For his part, Ashraf Siddiq, a researcher at the Institute of Marine Sciences in Egypt, said in a statement to “Sky News Arabia” that this turtle is called Loggerhead sea turtle in English, and in Arabic it is called the loggerhead sea turtle, while its scientific name is Caretta caretta.
He explained that this turtle mainly lives in deep waters and is difficult to catch, but now is the mating season for it, so it goes out to land to dig a hole in the sand and lay 100 eggs in it, which hatch in this hole, then its young descend to the sea.
He pointed out that this turtle also floats to the surface of the sea to breathe atmospheric air, and here some fishermen can catch it, and it lives in the Red and Mediterranean Bahrain, but its release must be in Ain Sukhna in the Red Sea, because this is a deep area, so that no one can catch it once. other.
Report from a citizen
And the Egyptian Minister of Environment, Yasmine Fouad, praised the fact that a citizen reported on Facebook regarding the attempt to trade in the turtle, noting that this reflects awareness of the importance of these natural resources and the citizen’s role in protecting the environment and creating continuous and effective communication channels in order to protect the environment.
The Egyptian Ministry of Environment called on citizens to participate in the protection of endangered species in order to preserve biodiversity and natural resources by reporting attempts to illegally trade in these organisms through the ministry’s hotline.
It should be noted that last April, an Egyptian fisherman caused a great deal of controversy accompanied by anger, following circulating a picture of him on social media celebrating the hunting of a marine animal, or a rare fish that is prohibited from catching in the Red Sea. And the fisherman, who confirmed that he had released her to the sea, was arrested following taking the picture with her.
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