Mainiçi news site announced that at least one fishing company admitted that turtles were injured while being removed from fishing nets.
Speaking to Mainiçi, a fisherman said, “I rescued some turtles from the net and released them into the sea. But I could not save the heavy ones. I stabbed the turtles to get rid of them.”
Marine biologists and staff at the Sea Turtle Museum in Kumejima took action to save the turtles. However, when they arrived at the scene, most of the turtles were motionless.
Some of the turtles had stab wounds on their necks.
Some turtles had their fins cut off.
‘A VERY HARD THING TO DIGIT’
“I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s very hard to digest,” one of the staff of the Sea Turtle Museum told the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.
Green sea turtles are defined by Japan and global conservation groups as one of the animals in danger of extinction.
These turtles feed on algae found off the island of Kumejima, 2,000 kilometers from mainland Japan.
Turtle conservation activities are also carried out in Kumejima.