KUALA TERENGGANU, (Bernama) - The Terengganu government has been asked to gazette all its beaches and islands as turtle sanctuaries to prevent the public from collecting the eggs. Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) SEATRU project leader, Dr Juanita Josep said at the same time, the government should create a law to ensure that the eggs would not be eaten.

"Not all beaches in Terengganu are gazetted where in several places, turtle eggs have been collected by fishermen and the local people," she told reporters at the World Turtles Day 2012 celebration, the first time held in Terengganu, here, today.

It was organised by UMT''s Institute of Oceanography and Environment (INOS) and Industry Network and Community Service Centre (INComS) in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Also present was Terengganu Turtle Conservation Programme leader, Rahayu Zulkifli, who represented WWF.

Dr Juanita said the main problem faced nowadays was the widespread sale of turtle eggs in Terengganu because there was no law to prevent it. She said UMT and WWF had worked at getting the state government to ban the sale of turtle eggs but it was still prevalent in the state.

"What we are trying to do now is to educate the local people not to support the sale or buy turtle eggs because turtles are threatened with extinction," she said.

Various activities were carried out in conjunction with the celebration with the theme of "Telur Penyu: Beli Jangan Makan Pun Tidak'' (Turtle Eggs: Don''t Buy Nor Eat them), including exhibitions, distribution of leaflets on turtles and meet-the-fan session with the Terengganu football team, also known as the Turtle Squad.

Meanwhile, Rahayu said the death rate of turtles in Terengganu was worrisome, with 12 to 15 dead turtles each year.

She said the turtles died mostly during the early nesting season in March because at this time the turtles migrated to Terengganu''s beaches and got caught in the fishing nets.

Meanwhile, in MELAKA, Fisheries Licensing and Resource Management Division director Johari Ramli, said the Fisheries Department would introduce the term of reference (TOR) to smoothen and strengthen turtle management and conservation in the country.

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Terengganu urged to gazette beaches as turtle sanctuaries