Posted19 July 2022, 10:38
JapanFrustrated fisherman stabs dozens of protected turtles to death
Between 30 and 50 green sea turtles were found on a beach, dead or dying, with knife marks, particularly on their necks.
A green sea turtle returns to the sea following laying its eggs on the beach in Guanahacabibes Peninsula, Cuba, June 29, 2022.
REUTERS
A fisherman has admitted stabbing dozens of green turtles, a protected species, to death while they were stuck in his net near an island in southern Japan, official sources have learned. Between 30 and 50 green sea turtles were found dead or dying last Thursday, with stab marks, particularly on their necks, on a beach on the island of Kumejima, 1,600 kilometers southwest of Tokyo.
“It was an awful scene,” said Yoshimitsu Tsukakoshi, a member of a sea turtle conservation organization in Kumejima. “Sea turtles are gentle creatures and they run away when humans get too close,” he added. “I can’t believe such a thing can happen in our time.”
repentant fisherman
Yuji Tabata, head of the local fishing cooperative, said a fisherman confessed to stabbing the turtles. According to Mr Tabata, the fisherman, whose identity has not been revealed, claimed to have released many of the turtles caught in his nets, but then began to stab them in an attempt to weaken them and free them more easily. “He said he had never seen so many turtles in his nets. Now he regrets” his act, Mr. Tabata said. The fisherman claimed to have felt in danger, he added.
Open investigation
The city and police have opened an investigation, a city official said, declining to say whether the fisherman faced any penalties. An editorial in the local daily, Okinawa Times, condemned the act on Tuesday, as well as the manner in which the turtles were left to die on the beach, also calling on local officials to heed fishermen’s grievances that the turtles cause economic damage.
Growing population
According to local media, fishermen in the area believe that the number of turtles is increasing, and that they can collide with their boats, risking damage and injury. According to Mr. Tabata, fishermen are also worried because the turtles eat the sea grasses that serve as habitat for the fish. He said this type of incident was rare and that fishermen regularly released turtles caught in their nets. “We are thinking regarding how to prevent this from happening once more,” he said.
(AFP)