turtle on a rack

I recently came across live green turtles being sold at the market in Manado, Indonesia. If the turtles had been caught within the Bunaken Marine Park, I suppose we can bring this to the attention of the marine police to take action against the illegal capture and sale of the turtles. But if the turtles had been caught outside of the Marine Park, does that mean that it is under no one's jurisdiction and therefore there is no way of preventing such acts from being committed again - unless the Indon govt ratifies the CITES and brings errant fishermen to task?

I heard that some divers had previously bought the turtles and released them back to the sea. Although well-meaning, I am not sure if this may not end up encouraging the locals to catch even more turtles since it becomes a lucrative source of income for them.

There is no easy solution for this. If divers stop buying the turtles, perhaps it will give the signal that we are not supporting this illegal trade. At the same time, we need to raise awareness among the non-diving locals that divers want to see turtles swimming freely in the sea, not laid on a rack in the market.

Perhaps something can also be done to encourage dive resorts to involve more locals in the dive industry. I think the practice in Bali works, where the women and children help carry divers gear and are paid an income for that. Only if the locals benefit from the dive industry will they support it. And this support will in turn, benefit the dive resorts.

Just to air my views. Was appalled and saddened by the fate of the 3 turtles lying in the dust in the muddy markets of Manado. If anyone has any ideas or views to share about what we can do about this, I will be happy to hear them.