The Ministry of  Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources has called for post-mortem reports of several sea turtles found deceased recently on the Southern coast.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, Deputy Minister of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources, Rathna Gamage said that several sea turtles were found dead on the Southern coast recently, and that it is suspected that their deaths were caused by the use of dynamite for fishing purposes. 

“We have called for post-mortem reports on the turtles from the Department of Wildlife Conservation and the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency,” he said.

As there were reports of more than 100 sea turtles being found dead on the Northern coast in the recent past, The Daily Morning queried as to whether they had also called for any report on the incident. In response, he said that he would look into it, and added that if a significant number of turtles have died, such a report would be called.

It was recently reported by the media that carcasses of hundreds of turtles had been found washed up on the shores of the Casuarina, Kovalam, and Karainagar beaches in Jaffna. Several of these turtles were found injured. Live turtles discovered on the beaches had been released back into the sea by the Navy and the local fishermen. Fishermen in the North have linked the decline in turtle populations to the use of prohibited fishing gear by Indian poachers entering Sri Lankan waters.