The ‘No Take’ policy on harvesting of vulnerable and endangered species of sea turtles will be strongly enforced by the Department of Fisheries.
Ministry of Fisheries and Forestry permanent secretary, Mr Inoke Wainiqolo, said they were also calling on the public not to tamper with two green sea turtles with satellite tags that were released from the University of the South Pacific last month.
“We strongly advise any member of the public, who may come across these two sea turtles with odd looking device and antennae to be mindful of these tracking devices and not to tamper with these special expensive equipment, as they are being monitored,” he said.
From September until February every year, these sea turtles have their nesting period and Mr Wainiqolo has asked the public to “be mindful of these current policy to protect sea turtles across Fiji waters”.
Coastal communities have been asked to be vigilant as the turtles may come on their beach to nest.
“The 10 year turtle moratorium has been established and has been in effect from 2009 till December 31st 2018, and is also currently enforced by the Department and relevant stakeholders,” the permanent secretary said.
The moratorium, he said, prohibits any form of capturing, killing, handling or molesting of turtles.
In its last reading, the two satellite tagged turtles were around the Vatu-i-ra waters and were heading towards the Northern Islands
Mr Wainiqolo said the high-tech equipments were useful in gathering data on travel paths and areas for sea turtle migrations both within Fiji and outside Fiji waters.
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