More male turtles needed

January 13, 2011
By CHRISTINA CHIN
Star

GEORGE TOWN: Penang is trying to hatch more male turtles to mate with females so that the reptiles will not disappear from the island’s coastlines.

The Pantai Kerachut Turtle Conservation Sanctuary is working to maintain a breeding ratio of 70 females to 30 males under a programme which began three years ago.

Department licensing and resource protection officer Mansor Yobe said they needed to have more male turtles for the females which come to shore to lay their eggs eight times a year.

“If we don’t do this, there may not be any turtles left here in future,” he said at the sanctuary at the north-west tip of Penang island.

Besides Green Turtles, the Olive Ridley Turtles are also known to lay their eggs at Pantai Kerachut, Pantai Teluk Kampi, Pantai Teluk Ailing and Pantai Teluk Ketapang on the island’s north-west coast.

Mansor said records from 2000 until 2006 showed that close to 100% of all hatchlings at the sanctuary were females.

He said they then started testing various sites by burying the eggs in shaded spots under trees or in cooler areas to try to get more male turtles hatched.

He added that a shaded hatchery was built at a cost of RM16,500 in 2009 to help determine the gender of the turtles.

“After collecting the eggs from several sites, we placed them in the shaded hatchery where the temperature is about 28.2 degrees Celsius.

“Eggs buried in the sand outside the shaded hatchery will produce females as the temperature there is hotter at 30 degrees Celsius,” he said.

He said eggs at the sanctuary were hatched on the beach rather than in a temperature-controlled incubator because research has shown this produced healthier hatchlings.

He said last year, some 5,000 eggs were collected and 70% were successfully hatched.

“We hope to collect the same number this year,” he said, adding that the peak period for turtles to lay eggs is between December and August.

Turtle excluder devices may be made mandatory

The world should barred Malaysian prawn catchers' export. Only then these cruelty to turtle will end. Anybody listening?
Admin

Turtle hatchery at Pantai Kerachut, Penang National Park

December 19, 2009
Department: Turtle excluder devices may be made mandatory
Star

GEORGE TOWN: The Fisheries Department is trying to find suitable nets with turtle excluder devices for local fishermen.

Fisheries Department’s Malaysia Marine Resources Management section head Ahmad Saktian Langgang said many countries were using the device which enable trapped turtles in prawn trawler nets to escape.

“We introduced the device years ago but feedback from local fishermen was not positive as they said it’s a burden for them when they haul their net.

“The department is not making the device compulsory among fishermen yet. But if situation gets critical, we will consider making it a requirement to renew their fishing licence,” he said after attending the Awareness and Education Programme on Endangered Fish Species at Taman Negara, Teluk Bahang on Thursday.

A turtle excluder device is less than RM1,000.

Malaysian prawn catchers were barred from exporting to the United States more than 10 years ago for not installing the device.

The department’s assistant fisheries officer Mohamad Zabawi Saat said there were 25 turtle sightings in Penang this year.

A total of 82 nests were also found.

“With the help of non-governmental organisations and the private sector to create awareness on saving the turtles, statistics showed that there were less eggs found in the market compared to five years ago,” he said.

There are currenly four types of turtles found in the country - penyu belimbing or Leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea), penyu agar or green turtles (Chelonia mydas), penyu lipas or olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) and penyu karah or Hawksbill turtles (Eret-mochelys imbricata).