The marine world is under threat due to reckless human activity. The latest to join in the list of endangered species is the sea turtle of the Caribbeans. This famed turtle is now in the peril because of over-fishing and illegal trade.
Traffic, a wildlife trade-monitoring network has revealed that the reproduction of Caribbean turtles is almost negligible as all the eggs laid in Guatemala are being taken by humans. The organization comprising of WWF conservation group and the World Conservation Union, have pleaded before the governments in the Caribbean region to impose ban on egg-catching to save the region’s six varieties of turtles.
Turtles are well protected in the seawaters. But, they need to come to the land for hatching, where they fall prey to unmanaged or illegal take. The nations in the Caribbean and the Central America where these species of marine animal are found need to enhance cooperation between them and adopt stringent measures to protect sea turtles.
The report released by Traffic cautions the overexploitation of marine resources as a threat to the survival of turtles. The burgeoning tourism industry in the Caribbean region, has led to great demand for turtle shell, meat and eggs. For this very reason, turtles hatching on the beach are being targeted. In Guatemala, the turtle eggs are collected for human consumption, whereas in Costa Rica, well-managed syndicates trade the green turtles for money. The Cayman Islands, once considered the breeding ground for these species now looks empty. The situation is so severe that almost all the varieties of Caribbean turtles are in the endangered list of the UN.
The reckless human activity and lack of concern for the marine world are the main reasons behind the vanishing number of green turtles in the Caribbean. Regarded as one of the longest surviving species, these marine wonders now at less than 10% of what they were in 1492, when Columbus discovered the region. The similar is the condition of Olive Ridley and the famed turtles of Tasmania.
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Via: Enn