SEA TURTLE BYCATCH INCREASES OFF TAITUNG COAST|近日東海岸頻誤捕海龜 漁民憂生態改變

Recently the amount of sea turtle being caught has increased dramatically along the coastal line in Taitung, which is unusual in the past around this time of the year. Experts believe, sea turtles feed on the fish along the coastal line during their breeding season, which ultimately increased their chance of being caught by local fishermen. Since the beginning of this month, fishermen have been unintentionally bycatching sea turtles when fishing in the waters off Taitung County. At least 8 turtles were caught and most of them were Green Sea Turtles or Hawksbills. Since sea turtles are protected species, they are usually released back to the sea or handed over to the Coast Guard. ==MR.CHEN fisherman== We've been bycatching more (sea turtles) lately. ==LI JUNG-FENG fisherman== We did catch some a while ago, and we always report this. The number of sea turtles taken as bycatch has grown dramatically this year according to local fishermen, but in the past this kind of incidental capture didn't usually occur in April. Experts believe it might have something to do with the weather and the turtle's breeding behavior. ==HUANG YU-HSU Research Assistant at Taitung Fisheries Research Institute== The weather is getting warmer which will bring fish closer to the coastline of eastern Taiwan. The turtles might be here because they're looking for food. Also, breeding season peaks around May until July for the Green Sea Turtles. Some of the sea turtles caught by the fishermen were found to have barnacles growing on their shells, which can affect their health. Some sea turtles have been sent to the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium in Pintung to remove the barnacles. Experts say that if the turtles are discovered with barnacles covering its shell, please hand them over to rehabilitation centers for treatment before releasing them back to the sea. TRANSLATED BY：STELLA TU 東部海岸這個月來，漁民在海上捕魚誤捕海龜的機會增加，讓漁民很頭痛，漁民說往年這個時候，捉到海龜的頻率並不高，今年不知道為什麼，海龜在近海出沒頻繁，卻落難到漁網裡？研究人員說可能是這個季節海龜需要的食物增加了，追逐小魚才會頻頻被漁民捕獲。 這個月初到現在台東縣東海岸的漁民，接二連三的在外海捕魚時，意外的捉到海龜，大部份是綠蠵龜和玳瑁，活體的數量到現在至少超過了8隻，由於海龜是保育類，漁民捉到都要再放回大海，也有漁民把漁船開進港，再交給海巡隊處理。 ==漁民 陳先生== 最近一年這個季節比較多啦 ==漁民 李榮豐== 前一陣子有捉到 但是我們有捉到 定置漁網我們都會通報 漁民發現，往年4月份捉到海龜的情況並不多，但今年卻突然數量暴增，懷疑是不是大海生態改變了。不過專家說，可能是海龜追逐小魚當牠們繁殖期需要的食物來源，才會比較容易被漁民捕獲。 ==水試所台東種原庫助理研究員 黃侑勖== 天氣開始轉熱了 開始有大小魚群 都開始靠近台灣東部海岸 所以牠們有可能是追逐食物而來 然後再來一個是綠蠵龜 綠蠵龜牠在每年的5到7月 開始進入繁殖高峰期 不過漁民誤捕到的海龜，有少部份在龜殼上附著大量的藤壺，影響海龜的健康，部份被誤捕到身上附著藤壺的海龜，台東縣政府已經送往屏東海生館治療。專家也呼籲漁民，如果發現身上有藤壺的海龜，不要馬上放回海裡，最好交給保育機構治療後再野放。 記者 章明哲 台東報導