Caught in a fisherman’s net, three leatherback turtles never made it alive to T&T’s shores to nest.
On Sunday afternoon, Nature Seekers conservationists found one dead turtle washed up on Matura Beach. The beach is one of the nesting sites for the leatherback turtle.
Then, on Monday, they discovered two more turtles dead on the beach.
Dennis Sammy, managing director of Nature Seekers, told T&T Guardian that it was not unusual to find three dead turtles on the beach.
Typically, more turtles wash up during the nesting season, but because of the seaweed hindering fishermen from going out to sea, many turtles were spared, he said.
Work must be done to improve the turtles’ hatching rate and decrease the death rate, he said.
Sammy made it clear that fishermen going out to sea were not to blame for the accidental deaths of the turtles, but he said there must be a way to improve the conservation of the turtles in the sea.
Terry Rondon, chairman of the Toco/Sangre Grande Regional Corporation, is calling on fishermen to retire their nets, but first they must be adequately compensated.
He said millions of dollars were being invested in turtle conservation but none had been earmarked for the fishermen who needed to go to sea to make a living.
“It is sad. I think a lot of money is being pumped into turtles and the fishermen are being left out. The fishermen cannot stay here. They should be compensated for their nets and then, and only then, if they are found fishing in the seas, they should be charged,” Rondon said.