Sea Turtle Recovery Action Plan for St. Kitts and Nevis - WIDECAST

CEP Technical Report No. 17
Caribbean region. Because each Caribbean hawksbill yields, on average, 1.34 kg of
tortoiseshell, it is clear that this trade has consumed more than one-quarter million turtles. It
appears that St. Kitts/Nevis has participated in this trade in recent years. For example, Japanese
import statistics show that 136 kg of tortoiseshell was received from St. Kitts/Nevis in 1990, the
equivalent of about 100 turtles. The trade is legal since St. Kitts/Nevis has not yet joined CITES.
However, Fisheries personnel have no knowledge of any export permits granted for this purpose
and seriously doubt that 100 hawksbills were taken from national waters for export in 1990.
Alternatively, shell could have been stockpiled for a number of years and exported all at once in
1990, or unscrupulous dealers exporting shell illegally from CITES parties may have simply
indicated that the shipment originated in St. Kitts/Nevis in order to evade CITES restrictions.
It is a recommendation of this Recovery Action Plan that St. Kitts/Nevis join CITES as
soon as possible. If Japanese Customs data are correct and tortoiseshell is being exported from
St. Kitts/Nevis, ratification of the treaty will halt this destructive practice. If St. Kitts/Nevis is
simply being used by traders moving endangered species products through the region illegally,
then ratification of the treaty will protect the reputation and sovereignty of St. Kitts/Nevis from
this kind of abuse. The fact that Japan, in response to years of harsh and unyielding international
criticism, agreed to halt all imports of sea turtle products as of 31 December 1992 (Donnelly,
1991) does not lessen the importance of ratifying the CITES treaty. There is also a significant
annual export of meat (1400 lb in one shipment in October 1991, see section 3.3), especially
from Nevis, to neighbouring islands, as well as "export" via tourists purchasing turtle jewelry
and other trinkets. It is encouraging that Delroy A. Joseph (Senior Customs Officer) attended a
Caribbean CITES Implementation Training Seminar held in Trinidad, 14-18 September 1992.
This comprehensive seminar, hosted by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and the CITES
Secretariat, was convened to familiarize Eastern Caribbean governments, especially non-CITES
parties, with the Convention.
4.32 Regional treaties
In 1940, the Convention on Nature Protection and Wildlife Preservation in the Western
Hemisphere was negotiated under the auspices of the Pan American Union. Twelve of the
Parties to the Western Hemisphere Convention are in the wider Caribbean region. However, the
Convention contains no mechanism for reaching decisions binding upon the parties, but leaves
each Party to implement the treaty's provisions as it find "appropriate". The Bonn Convention
for the Conservation of Migratory Wild Animals, if ratified by enough nations in the wider
Caribbean, could be an effective tool in the conservation of migratory species, such as sea turtles.
It was developed to deal with all threats to migratory species, including habitat destruction and
taking for domestic consumption. Unfortunately, only France, the Netherlands and the United
Kingdom, among nations with claims in the Caribbean Sea, have signed this Convention.
The 1973 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships
(MARPOL) is a landmark treaty that should be ratified by St. Kitts/Nevis. MARPOL has five
Annexes that give detailed technical specifications regarding the way in which a ship must be
built and equipped to prevent major pollution of the marine environment in case of accidents,
and also norms and technical requirements to minimise operational discharges. The five
Annexes are for oil, chemicals in bulk, packaged chemicals, liquid sewage, and garbage. Annex
Page 66