11% rise in turtle landings recorded for 2023

The Fisheries Department (DOF) recorded an 11.17% increase in turtle landings in the country last year.

Its director-general, Datuk Adnan Hussain said 30,375 turtle landings were reported in the waters of Sabah, Sarawak and peninsular Malaysia in 2023, compared to 27,324 the previous year.

He attributed the increase to the country’s favourable coastal terrain and fewer threats in these waters, along with the implementation of turtle egg incubation programmes.

“Based on the latest records from 2017 to 2023, the overall trend of turtle landings in Malaysia has been on the rise, with an estimated average of about 30,000 landings per year.

“The species commonly found in our waters include the green turtle, hawksbill turtle and olive ridley turtle.

“We aim for this number to continue increasing this year,” Adnan told Bernama.

He said that the last recorded leatherback turtle landing was in 2017 in Rantau Abang, Terengganu.

“The likely cause is the declining population of leatherback turtles.

“Our previous programmes were not effective enough in managing the gender ratio of the population, which has affected their ability to reproduce in the ocean,” he explained.

Therefore, Adnan urged the public to continue cooperating in preserving the environment to ensure the positive trend in turtle landings and to encourage these animals to nest on our beaches.

The public must not to litter, Adnan said.

“When plastic items end up in the ocean, they pose a real threat to turtles which mistake the plastic for their food, jellyfish,” he elaborated.

“I also urge everyone to stop consuming turtle eggs, as it hampers our efforts to boost the turtle population and it is detrimental to the country’s ecosystem,” he added.