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A green sea turtle, which had been caught and entangled in a local fisher’s net, was successfully tagged and released safely back into the ocean on 6 October 2021.
The turtle, which was caught two days earlier by a fisherman from the village of Salelesi about 16 kilometres east of Apia on Samoa’s Upolu Island, was kept in the village pool while the fisher sought assistance from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) of Samoa and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).
A report released today by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) is the first step towards assessing the risk of extinction of sea turtles in the region and developing appropriate management plans for their effective conservation.
The Review of the status of sea turtles in the Pacific Ocean 2021 brings together the most recent and relevant literature and knowledge about the reproductive biology, movements and populations of sea turtles and presents these alongside relevant threats to their populations.
Representatives from key Ministries and non-government organisations met in Nuku'alofa this week to plan activities to support Government and coastal communities achieve their protected marine species conservation priorities. Participants agreed the activities should focus on reducing the catch of endangered marine species such as turtles and sharks in offshore and inshore fisheries and strengthening the capacity of government staff to help ensure that the Kingdom of Tonga meet their obligations under the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES).
Beaches are an ecological wonder, home to a wide variety of species that live within the beach or migrate to the beach as part of their life cycle. Yet beaches are facing increasing change and environmental impacts from human use, erosion, land development and climate change. These impacts are not only on the habitat but also the myriad of land, coastal and marine species that play a vital role in beach ecosystems; and for those species, beaches may be getting too hot!