Turtles released after recuperation

Turtles that had been injured but were treated at Fort San Lucjan were this morning released back into the sea during an activity which saw Ghadira Bay being awarded the Beach of Quality award by Nature Trust.

These marine turtles, which had become accidentally hooked in local fisheries, were nursed back to health, weighed, tagged and released to their normal habitat by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, Nature Trust and the Malta Centre for Fisheries Sciences.

Apart from accidental captures, other threats to marine turtles include pollution particularly by marine debris which can be ingested, like plastics and other textiles, which have a resemblance to the main type of food ingested by these reptiles, collisions and accidents with boats or other vessels and depletion of their food resource.

Environment parliamentary secretary Mario de Marco said the turtles’ release helped children and young people become more conscious of the environment, animals and birds as well as of protected species, which would otherwise be lost.

The EkoSkola was set up in this context and through this morning’s activity students were informed about turtles.

Dr de Marco said the government would like to see Ghadira Bay attain Blue Flag status.

This was not an easy process and it was based on a programme based on a voluntary certification scheme. The programme would lead the bay to be managed according to Blue Flag requirements.

These included tough criteria related to water quality, cleanliness, safety and management, information and environmental education.

Two beaches had been awarded the Blue Flag status in recent years, a status which once awarded had to be renewed annually to be retained.

Dr de Marco said that the Malta Tourism Authority would this year be organising more than 14 activities, which would be divided into 38 smaller ones, at local beaches.

These included a waste separation campaign, a campaign against cigarette butts, informative exhibitions, activities for children, walks around the coast and a photographic exhibition.

Dr de Marco said the MTA was to continue working on bay management.

It would be working on St George’s Bay in St Julian’s, the perched beach in Bugibba, Ghadira and Golden Bay in Mellieha, Qawra Point in St Paul’s Bay and Fond Ghadir in Sliema.

It was commitment to develop two new beaches – at Fond Ghadir and in Qawra, with an investment of €500,000.

MTA’s intervention on beaches includes management service, continuous cleaning, a lifeguard service on some and a first aid service on others.

Dr de Marco said that a lot of work was currently being carried out for the beaches to be in a state in which they could start accepting people as from June 1.

Dr de Marco and Mellieha mayor Robert Cutajar were presented with the Beach of Quality for Ghadira Bay by Nature Trust representative Vince Attard.