Oops! Net catches big, rare turtle

By JOHN BELLO
TODAY Correspondent

AGDANGAN, QUEZON - A rare endangered species of marine turtle measuring 165 centimeters (cm) long and 117 cm wide was accidentally caught by fishermen on Friday in the municipal waters within barangay Kanlurang Calutang here.

Melito Camara, chief of the provincial environment office’s Protected Area Wildlife Management Service, identified the marine animal as a leatherback turtle. It got caught in the fishing net of four fishermen here at 5:30 a.m. on Friday. He said it is the biggest turtle of such kind ever found in Quezon province and probably even in the whole country.

Nobody could say where the turtle came from and there was speculation that it could have come from other countries and sought refuge in the seas of the province.

Mayor Adam Aguilar, members of the Sangguniang Bayan, along with lawyer Sheila De Leon and Glen Forbes—both of the nongovernment environment group Tanggol Kalikasan and Camara—were among those who witnessed the release on Saturday of the rare marine turtle.

Forbes, TK program director on coastal and marine resources, put the tag on the right and left hind flippers– P21656 and P21657—of the turtle, which was found to be shedding tears since its captivity.

Those who released the turtle, estimated to weigh about 400 kilos, decided to name it “Montecarlo,” apparently because it was safeguarded at the nearby Montecarlo Beach Resort during its overnight captivity.

Aguilar and Carlo Avellanosa, owner of the resort, tried their best to ensure the safety of the sea turtle.

Avellanosa persuaded the four fishermen—Jomar Rebediso, Nornilo Francia, Richard Pabino and Marvin Apa, all residents here—not to hurt or eat the turtle.

“Sumabit sa lambat namin yan habang kami ay nasa laot at nasira pa nga ang katig ng aming sasakyan dahil sa pawikan na yan [That turtle got entangled in our net and in the process damaged our outrigger],” Rebediso told Today.

De Leon, staff lawyer of TK, cited the provision of the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998 or Republic Act 8550 which makes it unlawful to fish or catch threatened or endangered species, or take care of them in captivity. These acts are punishable by imprisonment of 12 to 20 years or a fine of P120,000.

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