An assessment of the marine turtle trade in Viet Nam, launched to mark World Turtle Day found that large marine turtles are now virtually absent from Viet Nam’s waters except for Green Turtles around the Con Dao Islands National Park.
A government-owned souvenir shop found selling illegal turtle products was a potent symbol of how a national ban on turtle products enacted in 2002 has been undermined by a lack of enforcement.
Traders in all Viet Nam’s coastal localities reported that catches of local marine turtles, especially Hawksbill Turtles, were becoming rare, and even the few caught were smaller than in previous years.
“Without effective enforcement of the laws, the future for marine turtles in Vietnamese waters looks very bleak.” says Tom Osborn, Acting Director of TRAFFIC’s Greater Mekong Programme.
A 2002 TRAFFIC study found that trade in marine turtles had extended into a large-scale wholesale export market and a Ministry of Fisheries report estimated the combined take across the entire Vietnamese coastline at 4,000 marine turtles annually. (read more at science daily)
World Wildlife Fund. "Illegal Trade In Vietnam's Marine Turtles Continues Despite National Ban." ScienceDaily 16 June 2009. 18 June 2009save the marine turtles (video)
Posts
To have a healthy turtle, it’s important to know what turtles like to eat. In the wild, turtles eat many different things. They are omnivores which means they eat both meat and plants. This means that when you have to provide a variety of foods for your pet turtle to keep him or her happy and healthy.
ReplyDelete