THAILAND
Threatened with a crushing blow to its us $2 billion shrimp industry, Thailand is making belated efforts to save sea turtles which are fast disappearing from its waters. The Phuket Marine Biology Centre recently released 200 baby sea turtles into the Andaman Sea, though experts believe they would not survive there for long. The move comes in the wake of proposed us sanctions on Thai shrimp exports from May 1, 1996 . The us legislation bans shrimp imports from countries which fail to show that their shrimps were caught by trawlers using turtle-friendly devices.
Thailand's fishery act of 1940 had banned the hunting of sea turtles, but the population graph of turtles in the country has been on the descendant in recent years. All four species of turtles found in Thai waters - the Leatherback, Green, Hawks- bill and Olive Ridley - are endangered. Marine biologists have blamed the situation on the construction of hotels on beaches where the turtles used to lay their eggs.
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