Southern Sun Hotel – 5th of July -10:30AM – Free Entrance w Lunch Buffet
10.30 AM Friend of the Sea: Sea Turtles in Nigeria and Turtle Safe fishing methods.
Paolo Bray, Founder and Director of the World Sustainability Organization & Foundation
11.00 AM Atlantic Shrimpers Turtle Safe Award Ceremony.
CEO of Atlantic Shrimpers Limited
11:30 AM Doyinsola Ogunye Sea Turtles Conservation Project, Lagos.
Doynsola Ogunye
12:00 AM Questions and Answers – Lunch Buffet
5th of July 2022 – 10.30AM
Conference Room TBC – Southern Sun Hotel – Eti-Osa, 47 Alfred Rewane Rd, Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria
Free Entrance – Lunch Buffet provided
Please confirm your reservation to: media5@wsogroup.org
For more info: Friend of the Sea
Friend of the Sea supports Sea Turtles Conservation in Nigeria
Friend of the Sea, the leading international sustainable seafood certification program, is pleased to invite you to an event to award and highlight initiatives to protect Sea Turtles in Nigeria.
Friend of the Sea founder and director, Paolo Bray will hand out to Atlantic Shrimpers Limited, is largest fishing company in Nigeria, the Turtle Safe Award, for the company engagement to prevent bycatch of Sea Turtles by means of bycatch reduction devices.
Local conservation hero Doyinsola Ogunye will also be updating on its Friend of the Sea supported Sea Turtles Conservation Project which has helped saving 40 sea turtles from poachers and raise awareness in Lagos and Nigeria about this major threat.
Over 1500 companies worldwide have products certified according to the Friend of the Sea standard for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture. Among these are shrimp products from Atlantic Shrimpers Limited. The Friend of the Sea certification logo allows consumers to choose their seafood responsibly and help conservation of marine resources. In turn, Friend of the Sea dedicates an important part of the revenue from its certification activities, to develop and support conservation projects to protect endangered marine species, such as sea turtles, albatross, dolphins, whales, seals, penguins and many more. One of the supported projects is the one carried out by Doynsola Ogunye to protect Sea Turtles from poaching in Lagos.
Consumers choosing Friend of the Sea certified products, such as the shrimps from Atlantic Shrimpers Limited will know the product is fished sustainably and that the same time they will be able to contribute to conservation projects to protect endangered aquatic species .
Leatherback Sea Turtle, Green Sea Turtle, Olive Ridley Sea Turtle and the Hawksbill Sea Turtle are found in the waters of Nigeria. Their nesting grounds are found in beaches throughout the Nigeria coastline, including near Lagos. Local poachers vigorously hunt sea turtles and rob their nests during the egg-laying season, bringing considerable damage to the endangered species’ reproducing female populations, their nesting grounds, and potential hatchlings. A poor awareness on the conservation status and needs of sea turtle populations continues to bring great pressure on migrating sea turtles and nesting females and their potential hatchlings.
Mangrove forests and local terrestrial forests are beginning to exhibit signs of terminal exhaustion, with mangroves cut down and used as firewood for households and commercial fish drying, and the terrestrial forests cleared for use as lumber for house-building and canoe carving. The mangrove area which has also served as breeding ground for some important wildlife species (sea turtles, west African manatee, crocodiles etc.) and other important edible species such as fish, crab, frogs, lobsters and periwinkle, is continuously destroyed without restoring it.
Rescuing and protecting endangered sea turtles has become Doynsola Ogunye’s life’s mission. What started as a random call from someone from the public saying they’d found a turtle on the street has led to a conservation movement that has saved over 40 turtles. Most of these rescues have been critically endangered leatherbacks and olive ridley sea turtles. An entirely grassroots movement, locals report either lost turtles or poachers hawking them on the streets through the phone or social media. Then, Ogunye and her team respond.
Today, a small area is set aside at the Kids Beach Garden for a sea turtle sanctuary. Here, Ogunye teaches people and encourages them to spread the word about sea turtle rescue in Lagos state. She continues to strive to build a children-led revolution for a clean world and to save sea turtles.
Atlantic Shimpers Limited, owner of The Fish Shop seafood points of sales, is also actively involved in the conservation of sea turtles and reduction of bycatch which may be caused by its fishing activity.
A fully computerized reporting system allows the Fleet Manager to monitor production from the different fishing grounds. The ASL fleet does take care, by use of turtle avoidance and escape systems, and by strictly adhering to mesh sizes.
ASL is also a responsible employer, dedicated to the wellbeing of its employees. All employees receive a health care benefits and life insurance cover is provided to staff members. All Nigerian laws and requirements as to employment and safety at work are being adhered to or improved wherever possible. ASL has helped in generating employment directly for 1,300 persons and indirectly over 5,000 people in Nigeria. The local supply of fish proteins to the Nigerian market making the country less dependent on the import of fish.
Black Tiger Prawns (Peneaus Monodon) fished trawling in FAO area 34 by Atlantic Shrimpers Ltd are in conformity with the Friend of the Sea Criteria for Sustainable Fisheries.
