TURTLE deaths are rising in Terengganu due to inaction against fishermen illegally using stingray and trawl nets, marine life activist Rani Ahmad told The Malaysian Insight. 

Rani, who founded the Kapas Society Club, said the discovery of five turtle carcasses in two weeks was clear evidence of the authorities’ negligence in enforcing the law against the use of these nets.

When trapped in these nets, turtles are unable to surface for air and drown.

“Turtle deaths from trawl and stingray nets are nothing new. We have known them to be the main cause of turtle deaths in the state for a long time.

“It is the weakness in enforcement. They are not doing their job as enforcers,” he said of the Fisheries Department.

“The law is there. If it is true as they say, that they are monitoring and strictly preventing such incidents, turtle deaths should not be happening,” Rani told The Malaysian Insight.

In the first two weeks of this year, five green turtles, an endangered species, have been found dead along the Terengganu coast.

According to the department, the deaths were the result of drowning after being trapped in trawl nets. One death – a baby green turtle – was due to ingesting plastic waste.

The use of trawl nets are prohibited under the Fisheries Regulations (Prohibition of Fishing) 1980, para 2 clause 4 of the Fisheries Act 1985.

Rani, who has been doing marine conservation work since 1999, said he has repeatedly complained about the matter to the department and urged them to be stricter in their enforcement.

He said turtle deaths tend to coincide with the fishing and prawning season, as the sea is calm now following the monsoon season.

“The sea has been calm in the last two weeks, so fishermen are aggressively going out.”

Rani also rejected claims that the use of trawls or stingray nets was by foreign fishermen.

He said it is widely known that local fishermen use these prohibited nets too.

“They want to do things the easy way. Just spread the net out and leave it in the water for 12 hours or more.

“They know very well that when they use this kind of net, turtles will get trapped. Turtles can only survive for two hours under water. They’ll die if they do not surface for air,” he said.

State fisheries director Ruzaidi Mamat, when asked about lack of enforcement, denied Rani’s claims.

But he also said more turtle deaths are to be expected because of the fishing season.

“Turtle deaths increase every year. But in the last 14 days, we have seen a spike and many more will die,” he said.

Ruzaidi said the way around this was for fishermen to install the turtle excluder device in their nets to allow turtles to escape.

He said the department is always reminding fishermen to install the devices.

He also said the department is consistent about monitoring and enforcement, but did not provide data on enforcement operations or arrests made.

“We have never stopped monitoring and we have imposed fines on fishermen who are found violating the rules.

“There was an arrest we made last year in Besut,” Ruzaidi said.

He said a fine or compound of not more than RM20,000 and imprisonment could be imposed on fishermen found violating the law. – January 21, 2022.