BARKA: The Environment Authority in Al Batinah South Governorate, in cooperation with the Oman Sea Diving Team and the Municipality Department in Barka, carried out a campaign to remove entangled fishing nets in the marine area, following receipt of a report from a citizen indicating the presence of sea turtles entangled in fishing nets and in a state of mortality.
Upon receiving the report, direct coordination was undertaken with the relevant authorities and preparations were made to implement the campaign urgently, with the participation of approximately 26 individuals, including 13 divers, who succeeded in removing all nets and ropes at the site, with a total weight of approximately 400 kilogrammes.
Hamoud bin Khamis al Nairi, Head of the Dimaniyat Islands Nature Reserve Centre, explained that the centre received a report from a citizen regarding the presence of entangled fishing nets in the marine area surrounding Jabal Al Sawadi, with a number of dead turtles. Accordingly, urgent coordination was undertaken with the participating entities to remove the nets and dispose of them as quickly as possible.
He added that the diving and inspection operations revealed the presence of a number of dead sea turtles entangled in the nets, along with the mortality of a number of fish and various other marine organisms, reflecting the damage that abandoned or lost fishing nets can cause to the marine environment and its inhabitants.
The EA calls upon fishermen and sea users to refrain from abandoning or neglecting fishing nets and equipment in the marine environment, to retrieve and dispose of them through appropriate means, and to report immediately any lost or entangled nets, given the direct threat they pose to turtles, fish, and marine life, and in the interest of protecting the marine environment and preserving its biodiversity. - ONA
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