Environment watchdog and lobby group Te Ipukarea Society (TIS) is calling on government to develop regulations to prevent turtle harvesting. Talaia Mika reports.

TIS wants to see that consultation is held with the public to find out how people would feel about such regulations.

This comes after an incident which took place last week where a teenager and a woman were caught attempting to steal a Pacific green sea turtle, raising concerns among environmentalists and the public on harassment of marine life.

Stephanie Jansen from the Discover Marine and Wildlife Eco Centre Cook Islands emphasised that the public needed to be aware of how concerning this was for marine life while urging the community to be aware of such activities.

In an interview with Cook Islands News, TIS director Alana Smith, emphasised that there are no regulations or laws in place to prevent the harvesting of turtles, which play a pivotal role in marine life.

“The impact of taking turtles out of our ecosystem is that they play a key function in our marine ecosystem and there is also the fact they play a part in tourism factors as well,” she said.

“There are no rules or regulations in place for harvesting turtles in the Cook Islands and I believe maybe four months ago, there was an incident where turtle fins were found brushed out to the ocean, which was believed to be from harvesting of a big turtle in the Avana area.”

According to Smith, this would need better consultation with the people of Rarotonga, but it would be good to have an updated regulation in place on how the management of the turtles on Rarotonga would look like.

“I know for the outer islands it’s different but in Raro, there are really no rules,” she added.

“I know there is a current regulation in draft looking at the environmental management plan for the southern passages of Rarotonga and it looks at the management of the habitat there including the species that are found there.”

Going back to the incident last week, a foreign volunteer on the island, Gem Mitchell, who caught the alleged perpetrators taking the turtles, said the encounter was stressful and added that it was very concerning and disturbing for the marine creatures especially turtles.

“I feel like we need to protect the sea life, protect the endangered creatures, and I mean, of course, fish whatever you need to feed your family, but I feel like the sea creatures, I mean, the sea turtles, you need to leave them,” she said.

Police spokesperson Trevor Pitt said there was no report filed regarding the incident, adding that “it would have to be an offence”.