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Marine turtle populations around the globe are threatened with
extinction, having been heavily over-harvested by mankind throughout the
ages. In the Indian Ocean marine turtles have provided food at a
subsistence level to fishermen and coastal dwellers since time
immemorial. Turtles have also been used traditionally for their shell,
fat and meat, and their eggs have fed hungry families dependent on the
bounty of the sea.
But with the advent of outboard motors, refrigeration and rapid
transport to major urban areas, the harvesting of turtles and their eggs
has reached a level from which populations are struggling to recover. No
longer are turtles taken to feed a family or two; today they are
harvested by the hundreds and brought to markets throughout the region.
They are now sold to inhabitants of major cities, whose history never
crossed paths with that of these seafaring reptiles. Turtle eggs, which
used to be collected on an occasional, irregular basis, are now
collected nearly every single time a nesting female emerges on the
beach.
A more recent threat comes from mechanized fishing fleets, in the form
of shrimp trawlers and tuna long-liners, which ply their trade in the
Indian Ocean. Trawlers pull large-mouthed nets behind them for an hour
or more at a time, and turtles, which still need to surface to breathe,
are caught up in the nets and subsequently drown. Long-liners set out
several miles of monofilament line teeming with baited hooks. Not all
are taken by tuna, and again turtles succumb.
Not all is lost, as conservation programs in the region race to stem the
tide of decline and re-establish viable nesting and feeding populations
of these magnificent ancient mariners of our seas. Education programs
now spread through the Indian sub-continent. Beaches are protected in
India, Oman, Pakistan, South Africa and many other countries. In some
parts of the world conservation measures include hatcheries for the
endangered eggs, and even programs to rear turtle hatchlings in
captivity until they reach a size at which they are no longer
susceptible to predation.
Laws, which protect turtles and their products, have been enacted and
enforced in several locations, and a few previously declining turtle
populations are again on the rise. In the Maldives turtles are protected
by law, and today find havens throughout the atolls in response to
government protection and the booming tourism industry, which safeguard
their existence. The problem is, that today very few turtles remain, and
those that do are facing a habitat much changed from when they were last
in these waters.
Turtles may take up to 40 years to reach maturity, and that means that
the turtles emerging to nest today left these beaches long before the
country was a thriving tourism destination. Long before the pristine
beaches of its islands were surrounded by hotels and resorts. Long
before thousands of lights illuminated their nesting habitat.
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