Our team managed to secure all of the sea turtle eggs before they were sold by the suspect.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Marine and Fishery Resources Surveillance (PSDKP) Team (Morowali district) of the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) Ministry has thwarted an attempt to trade sea turtle eggs on a social media group.

In a statement issued here on Friday, the director general of PSDKP at the ministry, Rear Admiral Adin Nurawaluddin, emphasized that the trade was illegal since sea turtles are protected animals.

AK, a resident of Wosu village, Morowali District, Central Sulawesi Province, has been named a suspect in the case, he informed.

AK’s attempt to sell the eggs was successfully thwarted on April 25, 2022, he said.

“Our team managed to secure all of the sea turtle eggs before they were sold by the suspect. We will return these eggs to their habitat so they can hatch and grow properly," the director general added.

The trade of protected marine animals has been increasingly detected on social media and e-commerce platforms, he highlighted.

Although a number of such platforms have included provisions barring users from conducting illegal trade, they have not been effective in preventing them from taking place, he stated.

"Hence, we will intensify the monitoring of trading activities on various social media and e-commerce platforms," he added.

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In addition, the ministry will encourage the users of such platforms to report any trading activity involving protected marine animals to the authorities, he said.

The ministry is also intensifying public education programs regarding the prohibition of trade of endangered marine animals, especially for former perpetrators so that they do not repeat their crime.

Earlier, KKP Minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono had emphasized the prohibition of the trade of protected marine animals since it is not in line with the blue economy policy he has initiated to maintain the sustainability of marine and fishery resources in Indonesia.

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Translator: Razi Rahman, Uyu Liman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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