Yet another merciless killing of sea turtle
Map –the location of Bum Bum and Kulapuan channel
dead sea turtle is tied with nylon rope or is it a fish net?
The island on the background is Boheydulang Island, where Tun Sakaran Marine Park station and General Operation Force (Pasukan Gerak Am) is located.
According reliable source, report had been made by WWF-Malaysia Semporna team and the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) is said to be investigating the case. The competency of Wildlife Department is very much a suspect.
I will tell you why at the end of this article.
Do we have to wait for the SWD to complete their investigation to come up with the list of usual suspects?
Top of list is the seaweed farmers. The re-occurrence of conflict between sea turtle (“Bokko “ to the islanders) and the seaweed farmers have been recorded since 1990s. The authorities were in denial while conservation groups prefer to spread a romantic view that the islander does not harm sea turtle. They even come up with a non-sense like the sea gypsies has strong taboo on harming the sea turtle. The Muslim islander does not eat sea turtle meat so they say, but they love sea turtle eggs.
Related Article: Poaching of sea turtle in Pulau Tiga, Tun Mustapha Park, Kudat – When will it end?
For the islanders who commute daily between Bum Bum Island and Semporna town, sighting of sea turtle in the areas adjacent to Tun Mustapha Marine Park is not rare. These areas have been the favorite foraging habitat of Green turtle long before the boom in seaweed farming. Sea turtle is a pest to seaweed farming; they can destroy the entire seaweed farm overnight. The truth is this; seaweed farmers are fed up complaining about it and if they can, will definitely take revenge by harming the animal.
The next usual suspect is the artisanal fishermen. Sea turtle are known to forage at the coral reef and sea grasses areas, two areas where artisanal fishing is likely to take place. Sea turtle caught in any type of fishing net will drown. When that happens, fishermen usually will dispose the carcass, cut the net, tie the turtles and drag it away from their fishing ground. Who is there to find out when most fishing activities are done at midnight until early morning?
The third usual suspect is the fishing vessels who are taking advantage of richness of our sea and non-existent of enforcement by SWD. Some fishing vessels are poaching endangered, charismatic and migratory marine species like sea turtle, Dugong, Dolphin or whale shark.
The crews of these vessels with the Flag of Convenience are Vietnamese or Chinese or Indonesian, they are given license to do deep sea fishing or long line (by the Federal Fisheries Department). If they are caught encroaching into coastal areas or in possession of protected species, they too will dispose the evidence by throwing it to the sea. The local owner of this Joint Venture will declare that they did not authorize the illegal activities.
What is the probability of SWD solving this case? Zero!
If we look at how they handled the case of 50 dead sea turtles in Pulau Tiga, Kudat . A week after my report appeared on social media and online news portal, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment (MTCE) made a press statement denying my earlier report. He said, the enforcement agencies did not received any reports from local people about the dead turtles.
Later on the Permanent Secretary for MTCE invited me to a special meeting attended by the enforcement agencies. During the meeting, the Maritime Agency admitted they knew about the sea turtle killing field in Pulau Tiga few months before my field visit. The Maritime officer showed us photos and announced their investigation was not conclusive (no one got arrested).
The SWD official was not only late coming to the meeting but also angry with me for not consulting his department before writing to the media. Furthermore, he said that his departments are far way from Kudat and his office does not have speedboat to go the island. So much for his lame excuse, the next day SWD and Sabah Parks sent an investigative team to Pulau Tiga.
There is one more reason why SWD will never solve the case of dead turtle in Semporna. A the beginning of that meeting I have shown a slides of sea turtle kept alive inside a pen (fish cage) in Balambangan island, I asked if any of the enforcement agencies interested to arrest the owner. None of them seem to be interested!
- James M. Alin
This is my personal opinion and it does not reflect the official position of my generous employer- School of Business and Economics, Universiti Malaysia Sabah. I welcome all comments, ajames2000@hotmail.com, or twitter @literati43
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