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Thousands of Turtles Are Dying As a Result of Bycatch

Mozambique

Article received and posted 3rd February 2003

Courtesy of WWF - passport.panda.org

Turtles are washing up dead on the beaches of Mozambique in east Africa, often beheaded, or with their throats cut.
 
In the first few weeks of 2003, dozens of green and loggerhead turtle carcasses were found.
 
The cause is
bycatch by illegal and unlicensed fishing vessels which are operating close to the coastline of Mozambique, and even within protected areas such as the Bazaruto Archipelago National Park.
 
The boats are said to be of
Chinese, Korean, or Taiwanese origin, and are using longlines to catch sharks - some of which are protected species in Mozambican waters.
 
The illegal fishing vessels deploy steel cables of up to 25 km long with hooks attached on lines set at one metre intervals.
Baited longline hooks are particularly lethal for loggerhead and leatherback turtles which are hooked as they swallow the bait, and then drown or are killed by fishermen cutting away this unwanted catch. But the findings of numerous beheaded green turtles in Mozambique suggest even these normally vegetarian turtles are being impacted.
 
In addition, a recent study shows that
shallow water shrimp trawlers operating on Sofala Bank in central Mozambican waters kill between 1,932 to 5,436 marine turtles every year.

 
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