MARINE TURTLES POACHED BY FAKE TOURISTS
The threat of heavy penalties is needed to deter smugglers in Oman, writes Saleh Al Shaibany
Jibran Al Ismaili did not know he was breaking the law until the police knocked on his door in July and took away the 52 baby turtles he was keeping in a pool at his Muscat home.
The university lecturer, 44, said he picked up the turtles from the beach at Ras Al Hadd in the eastern region. He was not arrested but he had to sign a letter saying he would not repeat the offence.
“I camp with friends at Ras Al Hadd on some weekends and I pick up a few of these cute little turtles and take them home,” Mr Ismaili said. “I am sure one of my neighbours alerted the police because they have a good view of my pool in the back garden.”
All four species of sea turtles that nest in Oman are listed as endangered by the environment ministry. Keeping them as pets or taking them out of the country is forbidden, but this has not deterred animal smugglers who visit the country as tourists and try to smuggle out thousands each year.
Because there is no legal provision to punish offenders, they are released after the animals are taken. The turtles are returned to sea.
The government is considering a penalty of up to two months in prison, a fine of US$5,000 (Dh18,365) – or both.
There are no statistics available for this year but in 2016 police detained 124 visitors who were trying to smuggle out almost 3,200 baby turtles, the environment ministry says. That was an increase of 11.6 per cent on the number of people arrested in 2015.
Offenders are mainly from East Asian countries, East Europe and North Africa.
“It is an organised crime with these so-called tourists coming here to Oman to snatch baby turtles from their nesting grounds,” said Dr Ghulam Al Balushi, a member of Environmental Society of Oman.
“There is a big market outside Oman for turtle farming. Most of the turtles found in Oman, such as the hawksbills, are rare and in demand. You find them in very few countries around the world.
“The government needs to decide quickly on the punishment level of offenders. These turtle snatchers find a loophole in the law and take advantage. A stiff prison sentence and thousands of dollars of fine is a good start.”
The society says that four species of marine turtles – loggerhead, green, hawksbill and olive ridley – breed on the beaches of Ras Al Hadd and Masirah Island. Oman has the highest loggerhead turtle population in the world.
Dr Balushi estimates that about 50,000 turtles of all varieties nest each year on Omani beaches. Because these species have different nesting seasons, turtles use the beach for most of the year.
The government has established a monitoring and conservation programme at the nesting grounds to keep track of these rare species. In co-ordination with rangers and institutions such as Swansea University, local authorities tag turtles and collect data for records.
But the monitoring system does not work with poachers.
“The monitoring system is working to see how and where they nest and swim,” Dr Al Balushi said. “The tag is attached to adult turtles. Poachers take the babies.
“We know how many are hatched each year here in Oman but how many of them are poached is very difficult to know.”
The environment ministry says more than 15,000 eggs hatch every year. But “it is very difficult to know how many turtles actually survive after hatching because some of them get eaten by birds on their way to the sea”, Dr Al Balushi said
Wan Wong, a Chinese citizen living in Oman, said China was a big market for turtle farming and babies are in demand.
“Some of my compatriots come to Oman to poach turtle babies,” said Mr Wong, who works at China Dragon Mall in Al Batnah region. It is a big business back home.
“The little ones are bred and nurtured to adulthood and they end up in a soup. It is a Chinese delicacy that is served in most restaurants in China. Baby turtle are also sold as pets.”
He said that a baby turtle cost between $20 and $30 in China, while rare species could go for up to $300.
Turtle-watching attracts about 650,000 visitors to Oman every year. The Daymaniyat island cluster is another popular place for watching turtles nest and hatch.
The government decided in 2010 to employ rangers to protect these sites from poachers, but the move has not been entirely effective.
“By my estimate, we catch half the culprits and the other half get away with it,” said Waleed Al Omar, one of the rangers at Ras Al Hadd. “It is a hard job monitoring it.
“We have a vast coastline and there are not enough of us to do the job effectively. I guess it is not economical to employ a large number of rangers.
Oman has the regions longest coastline, stretching 1,700 kilometres from the UAE in the north to Yemen in the south, but there are only 150 rangers.