THE STAR (Petaling Jaya, Malaysia) 07 April 08 Hunting expedition foiled, 25 turtles saved (Stephen Then)
Miri: The maritime enforcement agencies in Sarawak have foiled an illegal turtle-hunting expedition by a group of foreign fishing vessels in the South China Sea offshore Miri.
The various enforcement agencies, made up of the Marine Fisheries, Customs, Maritime Department and the marine police have rescued some 25 turtles of various species from six foreign trawlers, two from China, three from Vietnam and one from Thailand over the past 48 hours.
An assortment of sea creatures were seized from the ships, including more than 40 turtles and tortoises.
Some 25 live turtles were also rescued from huge tanks that were built into the ship's compartments.
A big amount of slaughtered turtles were discovered in a frozen compartment, and quite a number of dried turtles and shells were also recovered.
The authorities on Monday afternoon towed the trawlers into the Miri River. Some 66 Chinese crew members and 22 Vietnamese have been detained for further investigations.
Northern Sarawak maritime chief Muhammad Abdul Basar said the rescued turtles have been thrown back into the sea so that they could survive.
''This is the biggest seizure of its kind this year offshore Sarawak. We will continue with active patrol in our exclusive economic zone to prevent further incidents of illegal encroachment,'' he said.
The area where the ships were found is about 120km offshore from Miri.
It is believed that some of the turtles that were slaughtered may be from endangered species, like the leatherbacks.
Hunting expedition foiled, 25 turtles saved