The Department of Fisheries says it is against the law to keep turtles in enclosures which deprive them from enjoying their freedom in their natural environment.
A Senior Fisheries Officer made the statement after confirming receiving a complaint from a cruise passenger who said the endangered species were illegally kept at Champagne Beach on Santo and other popular destinations.
Cruise passenger Ricky Gabrielsen says he offered an equivalent of Vt10,000 to have an endangered turtle at the popular beach set free but the owner refused to accept the money to release the turtle.
The reason is clear that it is used as a revenue earning creature for the owner when tourists go out to swim with the turtle.
Writing of his holiday experience on Santo, Gabrielsen of Australia says he was shocked to see turtles “being illegally kept for the benefit of cruise passengers and others”.
He said, “It is illegal to keep them in one’s possession but that has not stopped a flourishing business whereby turtles are trapped, kept in buckets the same size as the turtles or kept trapped in enclosures on beaches”.
He sent a picture of cruise passengers in a pose with the turtles. The fence which holds the turtles can be seen in the background.
Daily Post contacted the Department of Fisheries, the Senior Fisheries Officer confirmed the complaint saying it is illegal to keep turtles in such enclosures.
“One of the challenges faced is that when turtles are kept since they are babies, it is almost impossible for them to fend for themselves when they are adults and are released into the wild,” he explains.
The Senior Fisheries Officer says, the Department is looking at how best to strike a standard to provide the turtles their freedom while at the same time, enable the owners a level of authority over them whereby students and visitors can go to study them in their natural marine environment.