As the fight continues against people who are harvesting Sea Turtles during their nesting season the Ministry of Fisheries has extended the ban on the harvesting of Sea Turtles till May next year.
This has been confirmed by Director Fisheries Aisake Batibasaga who has also highlighted that the nesting season for sea turtles runs from October to December and to help with the breeding of sea turtles will continue the ban until May next year.
He adds that the Ministry of Fisheries has in place a regulation that allows them to continue the ban until a time when the government comes up with a stand-alone regulation on a ban for harvesting sea turtles in 2019.
This is part of Fiji’s commitment made in 2017 during the World Oceans Conference.
Batibasaga says those caught harvesting turtles can face a fine of up to $10,000 or 12 months imprisonment.
Turtles which have a hard upper shell of about 80 centimeters are still being sold for about $400.
