Roatan Marine Park Turtle Rescue August 4, 2011

[GoRoatan.com]

I have been watching the forum and was surprised that no one has mentioned what happened last Thursday on Roatan with the Roatan Marine Park.

Here is what we posted on our FaceBook page and in our iPhone / iPad app.

Thursday August 4, 2011

We just received some breaking news from the Roatan Marine Park. Marine park officials yesterday confiscated six sea turtles that were being illegally held in captivity. “It’s true we were able to get these turtles and tag five of them for research and return them into the Marine Sanctuary” states Nic Bach “The sixth turtle did have a fishing line in its throat and we are rehabilitating her before release”.

Five of the turtles we documented and recorded and immediately released back into the sanctuary. Four of the turtles were released in the West Bay area while the fifth turtle was released at CoCoview Resort. After holding and making sure the sixth turtle was healthy enough to return to the sanctuary the Roatan Marine Park released the sixth turtle on Saturday.

The six turtles were being held at a restaurant in the Jonesville French Cay area. Reports are that this restaurant (will not be named) had been collecting turtles and serving them as a specialty dish during dinner.

This just goes to show that the Roatan Marine Park is taking positive action in not only initiating the laws to protect our reef system but also enforcing them.

You can see pictures of the turtles in our photo album on ScubaBoard or on FaceBook

 

[RTBDiver]

This just goes to show that the Roatan Marine Park is taking positive action in not only initiating the laws to protect our reef system but also enforcing them.

 

[GoRoatan.com]

 

[RTBDiver]

The RMP cannot keep their own house in order and they move up east?
Sure, Its great the turtles were saved but when is the RMP going to step up and become real Marine park and not some part time visitor mission type thing with a store selling BS stuff?Why have they not invested the money to get a universal marine park fee like places such as Cayman, Belize, Bonaire, etc..The RMP is not new but they perform as if they were formed just this year .

 

[morecowbells]

Thank God that these turtles were rescued from such an awful fate! It is sad that a restaurant would even think of serving these creatures, but worse to realize there is a demand and a clientele requesting this 'dish'. I hope the restaurant will eventually be publicly named. It would sicken me if I inadvertently patronized this establishment.

 

[PhilC]

Here is a question how many of the ScubaBoard members would or would not pay the $10 donation to the RMP to dive the reefs? I know that many resorts ask their guests to do this as a voluntary action but few are actually willing to pay the additional monies (sad but true). Imagine if they actually had a decent working budget how effective they would become.

I pay $25 per person each year for the Bonaire Marine Park tag, it's a drop in the bucket to each individual traveller visiting Bonaire but adds up to enough to mostly support STINAPA over the course of a year. I happilly paid $2 a day in Roatan for the chamber and wouldn't blink an eye at paying another $10-$25 a person per year for a marine park tag. If its voluntary many people won't do it, make it required the same way other islands\countries have done, it isn't going to make people stop visiting or diving to pay $25 a year.

 

[adjuster-jd]

This is great news on the turtle rescue - keep up the good work!
On my trip to Roatan in early August, the dive op I was diving with (Bananarama) required us to pay the marine park fee. I dont know that they mentioned it in advance, but it was added on to the bill. We didn't complain about it, because I feel such a fee is warranted. However, I've stayed at FIBR 3 times and they never even mentioned a fee (even on a voluntary basis) for the marine park...

 

[browntrout]

Things that make you say HMM. There was another group at Coco view with us last January that went on the ATV expedition. While having lunch at a restaurant they were approached by the owner saying that a young man had caught a turtle and if they didn't buy it from him he would eat it. They coughed up somewhere near $40.00 from the group and the turtle was allegedly set free. I can't say for sure it was Jonesville, but it was one of the far away points on the island. I sounded like a scam at the time, I'm sure the turtle was returned to the tank awaiting the next group of tourists. Hopefully this was the only one on the island.

Edit- Found out the group actually saw the poachers bringing in four turtles on a boat and the restaurant owner told them the turtles would be sold for soup. The group purchased all four turtles and released them. Maybe the same poaching group don't know if it's the same restaurant? Either way it seems to be an on-going issue.