Call to ban pawns caught without turtle excluder nets
Up to 29,000 marine turtles are killed each year by prawn trawl nets whose catch is exported to the European Union, particularly the UK, according to a study by the French Guiana Fisheries Committee. Of the prawns imported by the UK, 46% are wild-caught, primarily off the coasts of countries including Bangladesh, India and Vietnam. The turtles, which become trapped in the nets, could be saved by “turtle excluder devices,” which would only reduce the prawn catch by 2%, according to the WWF. The conservation organisation has asked the UK to follow the US in banning prawn imports caught without excluder devices.  
Norbert Wu / Minden Pictures

The study by the French Guiana Fisheries Committee estimates up to 29,000 marine turtles are killed annually in tropical prawn trawl nets that export to the European Union, with the UK the EU’s largest individual market.

Just under half (46 per cent) of the prawns imported into the UK are wild-caught, the majority of which are being fished in tropical waters off the coast of countries such as Bangladesh, India and Vietnam, the report produced with support from WWF estimates.

But along with the prawns, the trawlers catch large numbers of turtles, including green, loggerhead and critically endangered hawksbill turtles, which become entangled in the nets and drown.

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The problem can be avoided by the use of “turtle excluder devices” – simple escape panels added into fishing nets that let turtles swim free, reducing the capture of marine turtles by up to 97 per cent while only cutting the prawn catch by 2 per cent, WWF said.

“Turtle excluder devices are a win-win solution, they save the lives of thousands of turtles and are a more effective method for the fisheries,” says Lyndsey Dodds, head of marine policy at WWF.

Removing turtles from the catch can also prevent prawns being crushed and increase the overall profitability for the fishery, the environmental charity said as it launched the report on World Turtle Day.

WWF is calling for the UK to follow the lead of the US, which bans tropical prawn imports where the excluder devices are not used, and require the implementation of the devices for all prawns imported into the UK.

“People in the UK will be shocked to hear that eating one of their favourite types of seafood might be contributing to the needless deaths of threatened turtles,” says Dodds, head of marine policy at WWF.

“The UK is importing a huge volume of tropical prawns into the country and the fisheries in countries such as India, Thailand and Madagascar who export to the UK market have had little incentive to move away from poor practice.”

“As the country looks to exit the EU, we need the UK Government to step up and introduce a requirement on tropical prawn fisheries importing into the UK to use turtle excluder devices and support them in making this transition.”

“This will ten help drive change in tropical prawn fisheries and dramatically reduce the capture of marine turtles.”