These turtles, which had been accidentally caught up in local fisheries, were nursed back to health, weighed, tagged and released to their normal habitat.

Apart from being caught accidentally, other threats to marine turtles include pollution – particularly from marine debris which can be ingested, like plastics and other textiles which resemble the main type of food eaten by these reptiles, collisions and accidents with boats or other craft and depletion of their food supply. In an operation which spanned three hours, and with the help of the Civil Protection Department, 18 sea turtles were released under the supervision of both Mepa and MCFS officials.

Rural Affairs and the Environment minister George Pullicino, who witnessed their release, said that in the last two years a total of 30 turtles have been nursed back to health and released in this way. He emphasised Malta’s commitment to protect this vulnerable species by adherence to a number of conventions and treaties. These highlight the priority for firm action to be taken regarding the conservation of marine turtles either through specific action plans for implementation in the Mediterranean region, or through obligatory resolutions or decisions imposed on the contracting parties. Malta is also duty-bound to contribute to the level of knowledge and conservation which will enable the Mediterranean population to maintain, if not to increase, its present numbers.

Mr Pullicino also pointed out that Malta has recently put forward a specific action plan to address the local problems faced by marine turtles. He mentioned that while the MCFS is doing an excellent job in rehabilitating such injured endangered species, Mepa’s Nature Protection Unit is also embarking on an extensive programme for further studies of the population of marine turtles accidentally caught in Maltese territorial waters, and is hoping to finalise contracts for more in-depth studies such as DNA analysis. Educational material is also being prepared and a protocol is being finalised so that immediate attention can be given to marine turtles that are beached, wounded or otherwise in need of urgent help.

The Environment Protection Directorate’s Nature Protection Unit is also in close contact with an NGO – Nature Trust’s marine rescue team – to be in a better position to achieve its aim of enhancing the conservation of marine turtles.

Marine turtles are a very old reptile that still shares this planet with us. There are only eight different species left in the world and so their protection is vital. Because of this, they are protected by a number of international conventions, as well as some regional ones. All marine turtles found in the Maltese Islands are also protected by local legislation. Of these eight species, five have been reported in the Maltese Islands. The most common marine turtle which is recorded in the Maltese islands is the Loggerhead Turtle (Il-fekruna l-komuni and caretta caretta).

The MCFS of the Fisheries Conservation and Control Division in the Rural Affairs and the Environment Ministry, in collaboration with the Nature Protection Unit of Mepa, runs a Turtle Rehabilitation Programme. Injured turtles which are either landed by fishermen or else reported by the general public to the Nature Protection Unit’s enforcement inspectors (whose telephone numbers are given below), are brought to the MCFS.

Here they are treated as required and kept in appropriate tanks until they are fit for release into the open sea. All their relevant biometric data, as well as the landing locality, are entered into a database.

During their rehabilitation programme, the injured turtles are observed, cleaned, their damage assessed and treated as necessary.

Hooks are removed surgically when necessary. The turtles which have been operated on are placed in tanks with a flow-through supply of sea water where they are fed on fish or squid and helped to recover fully.

Once they are healthy and fit, they are tagged with RAC/SPA plastic tags as part of the regional programme introduced in Malta by the Environment Protection Department, in which all Mediterranean countries participate. Prior to their release some six kilometres off the Maltese coast, biometric data is once again recorded.