Official sources have learned that a fisherman admitted to stabbing dozens of green turtles, a protected species, to death while they were stuck in his net near an island in southern Japan.
Between 30 and 50 green sea turtles were found dead or dying last Thursday, with traces of stab wounds in particular, on the shore of Kumejima Island, 1,600 kilometers southwest of Tokyo.
“It was a horrific sight,” Yoshimitsu Tsukakushi, a member of a sea turtle conservation organization in Kumejima, told AFP.
“Sea turtles are cute creatures and they run away when humans get too close,” he added. “I can’t believe such a thing can happen in our time.”
Yoji Tabata, head of the local fishing association, told AFP on Tuesday that a fisherman had confessed to stabbing the turtle.
According to Mr. Tabata, the fisherman, whose identity has not been revealed, claimed to have released several of the captured turtles into his nets, but then began stabbing them in an attempt to weaken and release them more easily.
He said he had never seen so many turtles in his nets before. Mr Tabata said he now regretted “what I did”. He added that the fisherman claimed that he felt the danger.
The city and police have opened an investigation, a municipal official told AFP, refusing to reveal whether the fisherman faces penalties.
Editorial from the local daily Okinawa Times He condemned Tuesday’s action, as well as the way turtles were left to die ashore, and also called on local officials to heed fishermen’s complaints that turtles are causing economic damage.
According to local media, fishermen in the area believe that the number of turtles is increasing, and that they can crash into their boats, putting them at risk of damage and injury.
According to Mr. Tabata, the fishermen are also concerned because the turtles eat the seaweed that is home to the fish.
He said that this type of accident is rare and that fishermen regularly release the turtles caught in their nets.
“We are thinking about how to prevent this from happening again,” he said.
