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Bahamas National Trust Press Release September 19, 2008 (BNT Joins the Call for a Total Ban on the Harvesting of Sea Turtles) The Bahamas National Trust urges the government of The Bahamas to immediately implement a ban on the harvesting of sea turtles. As a signatory to international agreements which protect wildlife, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, the harvesting of these endangered species sends a confusing message to the conservation community. Allowing the harvesting also damages to our international image. and has negatively impacted our Tourism Industry. The desire to protect sea turtles has sadly created a dark economic incentive for fishermen as they play on the sympathies of the public, forcing them to pay large sums of money to rescue captured turtles. The sea turtles in The Bahamas are a regional resource - their extensive migrations means turtles move through the waters of many nations throughout the Caribbean. Increasingly. Caribbean nations have banned the harvest of sea turtles in their waters. The Trust feels The Bahamas should join with our neighbors in protecting this shared resource. The Bahamas must recognize and honor the pledge it made by signing the Convention on Biodiversity, which was that we work to avoid the extinction of any more Bahamian species. The taking of sea turtles - a globally endangered species - violates the spirit of that pledge. The BNT joins The Bahamas Sea Turtle Conservation Group, The Nature Conservancy, The Bahamas Humane Society, Friends of the Environment, and BREEF in the call for a total ban on the harvesting of sea turtles in The Bahamas. |
