Protecting sea turtles

Every year, local beaches of Karachi and Balochistan are visited by thousands of female sea turtles who nest and lay eggs. Protecting these nesting grounds are essential to maintain and increase the dwindling population of an already endangered species.

A 2012 study conducted by WWF-Pakistan revealed that around 30,000 sea turtles were annually caught in gillnet. Other longstanding threats include habitat degradation, plastic pollution and exposure to diesel and petrol adversely affect these creatures, sometimes resulting in deformation in hatchlings. Thankfully, government agencies in collaboration with NGOs have taken sustainable measures to the host of threats. One such initiative includes training local fishermen and community members to safely release entangled seas turtles from fish nets. This alone has not only managed to reduce affected turtles by 85% but has also created awareness among communities and made them active stakeholders. The one aspect that the government can significantly improve on is curbing illegal trade as hatchlings are often illegally removed from their nests and sold in aquarium shops across cities. However, the issue of plastic pollution entails much more serious efforts. This is because ridding waters of single-use and micro-plastics requires strenuous efforts involving scientific knowledge and expensive technological equipment. While micro-plastics may not have a sudden immediate effect on turtle population, their entry into the body can go undetected and affect the biological make-up of future generations of sea turtles. Moreover, warm ocean and land temperatures could lead to a disproportionate production of male and female hatchlings. Sea turtle eggs that incubate in sand below 28 degrees Celsius produce males and vice versa. This could be curbed by creating temperature control nesting tents after ascertaining the population difference.

While the overall project is heading in the right direction, the government needs to create regulatory measures to stop plastic pollution. Changing temperatures will force these turtles to shift elsewhere in the future and Pakistan might see the last of these creatures if conservative measures are not taken.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 20^th, 2022.

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