Vietnamese vessel yields 200 dead endangered marine turtles

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan—A Vietnamese fishing boat intercepted by maritime authorities over the weekend in Balabac, Southern Palawan has yielded over 200 dead marine turtles and equipment used in capturing the protected species, the authorities said Tuesday.

The 13 Vietnamese crewmen of the fishing boat were detained at the Palawan provincial jail after they were brought to the city by members of the Special Boat Unit of the Philippine National Police who caught them off Mangsee Island in Balabac.

Adel Villena, lawyer of the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development, a wildlife regulatory body in Palawan, said they were still completing the investigation and inventory of the boat’s cargo but have already filed charges against the Vietnamese fishers.

“We have filed a case for violation of Section 87 of the Fisheries Code and had them undergo inquest on Monday,” he said in an interview. The law prohibits poaching in Philippine waters.

Villena said the authorities were preparing another case for violation of the Philippine Wildlife Act.

He said they were still completing the hauling of the dead turtles from the refrigerated holding compartment of the fishing vessel but other officials said there could be up to 300 turtles there.

Villena said his agency was preparing to bury the dead sea turtles “after we have conducted morphometrics” to determine specimen measurements and information “for scientific purposes.”