Getting Marine Turtles Off the Walls
Hawksbill and green turtles are commonly stuffed and sold openly in gift shops at high profile tourist spots throughout Vietnam. Turtle shell is commonly used to make jewelry, eyeglasses frames, and other crafts. Additionally, marine turtles are slaughtered for their meat, kept as pets outside hotels and restaurants.
The ENV Wildlife Crimes Monitoring Unit has been working closely with national and provincial Fisheries Departments to bring a halt to the illegal sale of marine turtles. These efforts have yielded a fair number of successes over the past two years including removal of marine turtles from a number of shops and business establishments, confiscation of live turtles from markets, and voluntary transfer and release of marine turtles captured by fishermen. In Hanoi alone, five of six shops that were reported as selling or displaying marine turtles have stopped doing so as a direct result of ENV’s efforts. ENV continues to monitor these and other establishments, and in December will complete a survey of shops known to sell marine turtles listed in a report by the Fisheries Department and TRAFFIC.
