Vietnam has been warned to stop wanton tuna fishing that is threatening sea tortoise to extinction before its tuna products are boycotted on the world market.
The warning was raised at a round-table meeting on sea tortoise protection held on September 12 by the Department of Sea Products Fishing and Protection (APFP) in association with the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), the International Union of Nature Conservation (IUCN) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the US.
International experts said it was a lesson drawn from Cambodian experiences during 2004-05 when the country’s tuna exports were banned worldwide.
APFP chief Chu Tien Vinh called for urgent tight management over sea diving for tortoise fishing, especially in the neighbourhood of the Phu Quoc Island off southern Kien Giang province as the trade has become the most dangerous threat to the rare species.
Phan Hong Dung from the Aquatic Products Research Institute also warned of a widespread habit of eating sea tortoise, causing people to hunt for the species in the three central coastal provinces.
Statistics showed that some 1,000 sea tortoise head were caught every year in Vietnam . The luxury tuna fishing often leads to the catch of turtle, drag trawls often net tortoise and sand crab netting usually catches tortoise babies.
The WWF, IUCN and NOAA are co-sponsoring a project to protect sea tortoise during sea products fishing. It provides training for fishermen and trainers, sends ships to patrol, supplies equipment for international trainers to use during the on-the-spot training and makes agreement on the members of a sustainable oceanic tuna fishing programme.