Turtle slain during closed season; three charged with offence

Three persons have been arrested and charged for being in possession of meat that is believed to have been obtained from a turtle that was killed at a beach in Biabou last week.

The gruesome discovery was made last Wednesday, March 30, in which a 6 ft 4 inch long leatherback female turtle was slaughtered at Biabou Bay when it came up on the sand to lay its eggs.{{more}}

Raymond Richardson of Biabou, Ivan John of Bridgetown, and Andrew Simon of Stubbs appeared at the Biabou Magistrate’s Court last Friday, April 1, charged with the offence, which is in violation of the Fisheries Act No. 8 (1986).

Chapter 59 Part IV, section 17 (2) e of the act states that “no person shall take, sell, purchase or have in his/her possession, any turtle or part thereof during the closed season for that species of turtle.”

SEARCHLIGHT spoke with Reshevski Jack, a fisheries officer, about the incident, and he appealed to the public to desist from hunting turtles during their respective closed seasons.

“They usually come up on the beach during the night to nest… We encourage people not to do that (kill out of season) because basically you’re destroying the species, because they are not able to nest and reproduce. A turtle takes at least 60 years to mature,” he explained.

The closed season for leatherback turtles is March 1 to July 31. On average, this species of turtle lays anywhere between 90 to 100 eggs at any one time.

One of the men charged pleaded guilty, while the other two pleaded not guilty. Those found guilty of such an offence can be fined up to $5,000.

The case has been adjourned to a later date. (JSV)