The exploitation of marine turtles continues in Egypt.

MEDASSET: The Exploitation of Sea Turtles continues in Egypt.

The Exploitation of Sea Turtles continues in Egypt.

Venizelos L. and Kallonas M. MEDASSET - The Mediterranean Association to Save the Sea Turtles, 1c Licavitou Str., 106 72 Athens, GREECE, Tel.: +30 1 3613572, 3640389, Fax: +301 3613572, E-mail: <medasset@hol.gr>.

“By visiting the Alexandria fish market you will be shocked to see the sea turtles lying on their backs…. …..the turtles are slaughtered in the early mornings of Friday and Sunday, when there are sufficient customers to share its meat and some of them drink its blood. If there are not enough customers, the turtles will be left alive until the following Friday or Sunday. During that period they are lying on their backs, without food or water…”

This appalling sight illustrates that Egypt still does not abide by the legislation concerning the protection of sea turtles. These observations were made by Dr. M.A. Nada, a veterinary surgeon, in his report commissioned by MEDASSET, on the current situation in the fish market in Alexandria, Egypt. Over a five month period, from December 1998 until May 1999, weekly visits to “Hagi Hossni shop” in the fish market in Alexandria were made to record the number of sea turtles on display for sale. Both loggerhead and green turtles were seen. There was an average of six turtles per week which amounted to a total of 135 turtles. The turtles are either sold directly to the customers or to fish restaurants. The customers include both Coptic Christians and Muslims. Blood-drinking was carried out mainly by women, mostly in the belief that it increases fertility. The meat is sold for 15 Egyptian pounds/kg (approximately U.S. $4/kg). The turtles’ shells are dried with salt and sold, some to the students of the Faculty of Fine Art and some to shops.

These observations were also witnessed by many others. For example, in a letter (13/2/1997) to the Egyptian Minister of the Environment, Prof. Erdal Ozhan (Chairman of MEDCOAST) expresses his shock and horror at seeing four marine turtles (two green and two loggerhead) on their backs and still alive at a fisherman’s stall in Alexandria. Thus it can be seen that the traditional use of both loggerheads and green turtles for meat and blood consumption, especially in Alexandria, continues to this day.

Both the green and loggerhead turtles are known to be present in the Egyptian Mediterranean Sea. The first survey to assess the nesting status of sea turtles in Egypt was carried out on the Mediterranean coast of western Egypt, between Alexandria and El-Salum, in 1993. The project was run by the Mediterranean Association to Save the Sea Turtles (MEDASSET) and the Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA Tunisia) of the UNEP/Mediterranean Action Plan (UNEP/MAP), in co-operation with the National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries of Alexandria (NIOF). It is known from this nesting survey that the nesting population on the western Egyptian coast is very low and only the loggerhead species was observed (Kasparek 1993). A result of a beach survey by the Suez Canal University, as part of the Darwin Initiative Marine Turtle Project, revealed that the coast area from Refah to Port Said (on the eastern Egyptian coast) is suitable for nesting (Ibrahim 1998).

The nesting status of the green turtle in Egypt is probably very low or absent (Laurent et al.

1996).

Sea turtles brought for sale to the fish markets of Alexandria are incidentally caught by trawling and bottom longline fishing. A study on sea turtle and fishery interactions in Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey (Laurent et al. 1996) reports that in thirteen days of observation, 35 sea turtles were killed in the fish markets of Alexandria, this included both loggerhead and green turtles. According to a fishmonger, three to four sea turtles are on display for sale every day in the summer. Customers were observed to drink the blood of the sea turtles, as was reported

by Dr. Nada (1999), but the main reason for the slaughtering of turtles is for meat consumption. The report recommends that an education programme be put in place to reduce this traditional exploitation. The fishermen claim to catch the sea turtles accidentally (Kasparek 1993; Laurent et al. 1996; Nada 1999) and the majority say that capture by trawling does not result in their mortality. Fishermen interviewed said that they then kept the turtles for personal consumption or sold them to the fish markets in Alexandria (Laurent et al. 1996).

1

MEDASSET: The Exploitation of Sea Turtles continues in Egypt.

The very low levels of nesting in Egypt compared to the higher levels of turtles being reported to be incidentally captured by trawling, suggest that the turtles caught probably originate from nesting populations elsewhere in the Mediterranean. For example, green turtles are known to nest in Turkey and Cyprus. The Egyptian coast may therefore only act as foraging and wintering grounds for these turtles and not as a primary nesting habitat. Therefore the exploitation of turtles caught by trawling has a significant impact on nesting populations elsewhere in the Mediterranean. It has also been suggested that the exploitation of sea turtles in Egypt may be an explanation for the low number of nests laid each year in Egypt and Israel.

(Laurent et al. 1996).

Egypt is party to CITES since 4/1/78, to the African Convention since 12/5/72 and to the Bonn Convention since 1982. Egypt ratified the Barcelona Convention on 24/8/78 and its Specially Protected Areas Protocol on 8/7/83. It is apparent that the International Conventions prohibiting the exploitation of sea turtles, have done little to halt this traditional practice in Egypt. The report by Kasparek (1993) contains a section concerning the legal aspects of turtle conservation in Egypt. It writes that “the responsibility for the conservation of the coastal ecosysytem and of marine turtles lies in the hands of the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EAAA) in Cairo. Although the ratification acts constitute a national legislation, it is proposed to enforce this legislation by new specific laws for the prohibition of the capture of marine turtles and for the preservation of nesting beaches. It is also recommended to add marine turtles on the list of protected species in Egypt”.

A positive result ensuing from the report by Kasparek (1993) was the issuing of the legislation Law 4/1994 for Protection of the Environment. This aimed to enforce prior legislation (for example Law 124/1983 on Catching Fish and Aquatic life and Minister of Agriculture Decree No. 1403/1990), to regulate the fishing activities resulting in turtle capture at sea and concerning the possession and use, including sale of turtle and its parts. Decree No. 1403/1990 afforded protection to 14 reptiles including solely the green turtle as sea turtle species (Laurent et al. 1996), while the Law 4/94 covers sea turtles in general.

A meeting of experts on the implementation of the Action Plan for the conservation of Mediterranean marine turtles adopted within the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP), took place in Arta, Greece, 27-29: October 1998. The delegate present from Egypt was Dr. M.I.M. Ibrahim, from the EEAA, Department of Protection. In his report he writes that there is no clear responsibility for the management of fisheries. He makes very important recommendations to his own government.

“Adopting and enforcing legislation concerning the landing, sale and possession of live turtles, turtle meat or products is necessary and will help to a degree in curbing the killing of turtles. Prohibiting the setting of nets in shallow waters, in particular near nesting beaches during the nesting season, will also reduce incidental catches and diminish conflicts with fishermen.”

In recent years, as documented above, there have been increasing efforts to bring the nonimplementation of the legislation to the attention of the Egyptian government by intergovernmental organisations, environmental groups and scientific institutions. It has to be ensured that the legislation in Egypt, with specific provisions applicable to marine turtles, covers all fishery interactions as well as the protection of nesting areas, foraging and wintering grounds. At the moment those exploiting the sea turtles are either not aware of the laws or are not willing to abide by them and thus give up a profitable trade. A more active programme of environmental education and public awareness is required, which targets the locals, tourists and fishermen alike. These programmes are required to bring about a change in the mentality of these groups. The existence of legislation is not sufficient if not enforced at a local level. Within this respect, authorities need to be designated and penalties introduced to protect the turtles in Egyptian waters. It is of imperative urgency that the Egyptian government recognises that sea turtles in Egyptian waters are only protected on a theoretical level and that active and practical conservation measures should be implemented.

IBRAHIM, M.I.M. 1998. Egyptian conservation activities on marine turtles in the Mediterranean region. UNEP (OCA) MEDWG. 145/4, Annex IV: 22-25.

KASPAREK, M. 1993. Marine turtle conservation in the Mediterranean. Marine

2

MEDASSET: The Exploitation of Sea Turtles continues in Egypt.

turtles in Egypt. Phase I: Survey of the Mediterranean coast between Alexandria and El-Salum. MEDASSET (U.K.), RAC/SPA (Tunisia) in co-operation with the National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries Egypt (NIOF). 82 pp.

LAURENT, L., E.M. ABD EL-MAWLA, M.N. BRADAI, F. DEMIRAYAK & A. ORUC. 1996. Reducing sea turtle mortality induced by Mediterranean fisheries.

Trawling activity in Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey. Report for the WWF International Mediterranean Programme. WWF Project 9E0103: 32 pp.

NADA, M.A. 1999. Personal communication to MEDASSET. OZHAN, E. 1997. Letter to Minister of Environment, Egypt.

Two Green and two Loggerhead turtles at Alexandria’s fish market. (Photo by Erdal Ozhan 1997).

Loggerhead ready to be butchered in Alexandria’s fish market. Eye damaged by fishermen deliberately.

(Photo by Erdal Ozhan 1997).

Two Green and two Loggerhead turtles ready to be butchered in Alexandria’s fish market. Turtle in the middle bears signs of blood extraction for consumption.

(Photo by Erdal Ozhan 1997).

Butcher exhibiting head of Green turtle in order to sell it at Alexandria’s fish market.

MEDASSET Research 1993.

3