Save the Sea Turtle Program Started on St Kitts

2010-10-29 22:32:00 by

A new sea turtle capture-and-release program for the fishing industry has been established in St. Kitts. The program aims to reduce the number of sea turtles caught and sold in the Caribbean area.

Reported by ReptileChannel.com, "About 70% of Caribbean nations have banned fishing of sea turtles because of their classification as an endangered species, according to Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, which is helping lead the program. However, St. Kitts as well as Nevis continue to allow such fishing, although certain regulations have been implemented.

"[The team of vets in the program]met in early October at Ballast Bay on St. Kitts? south peninsula to teach Theophilus Taylor, president of the local Sandy Point Fishermen?s Cooperative, the appropriate method of tagging a hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), the main species of sea turtle captured on the island.

"'As president of the Sandy Point Fishermen?s Society, it is important to be a part of the sea turtle preservation project,' Taylor said. 'I realize that many of us [St. Kitts/Nevis fishermen] fish for the sea turtles because it is how we keep our families going, it is our livelihood, but we have to think about how these turtles will affect the future of our island?s sea life.'"

Team members are presenting the program in more than 30 local schools, and encouraging students to observe turtle-friendly recreational activities that avoid damage to nesting and foraging turtles, as well as incubating nests.

The St. Kitts Sea Turtle Monitoring Network, Georgia Sea Turtle Center, Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine and St. Kitts Fisheries Department are providing nonconsumable sources of income ? getting paid to work for conservation as opposed to harvesting turtles ? to those participating in the capture, tagging and release. Sea turtle education programs will also be implemented.

(photo courtesy of Kris Przeor, AboutUtila.com)