World Status, Exploitation and Trade - WIDECAST

COLOMBIAEXPLOITATIONComnodity Green Turtles are generally the most relished for meat, butother species are also eaten. In San Andres and Providencia, E. imbricatais said to be the preferred species for human consumption (Pritchard andTrebbau, 1984). The eggs of all species are collected. Turtle oil is usedfor many purposes: it is drunk as a cure for chest colds and asthma, spreadon the skin as a sun-tan lotion and mixed with paint to make it glossy.Most of the oil comes from C. caretta and E. imbricata , as the fat ofC. mydas is normally eaten. Hawksbill shell furnishes a large and thrivinglocal jewellery industry, and some is sold for export, but the major use isfor the manufacture of spurs for fighting cocks. Turtle leather is notcurrently used, partly because the popular method of cooking flippersinvolves leaving the skin on. All parts of slaughtered turtles are used:the carcases are ground up for pet food; the blood goes to make sausages;the bile is mixed with rum to make a general-purpose medicinal cure;carapaces and stuffed heads make ornaments; and the tails are dried to makean aphrodisiac "so powerful that if misused it can keep a man up for months"(Mast, 1986).Hunting intensity In the Caribbean, turtles are regularly fished mainlyon the Guajira Peninsula, but also between Punta Canoas and Taganga, in theGolfo de Moroscillo and in San Andres and Providencia. The mainslaughterhouse Is thought to purchase over 1250 turtles a year, of whichabout two-thirds are C. mydas and one-third E. imbricata . There are threeother, smaller slaughterhouses. The total quantity of Hawksbill shellpurchased each year by the main buyers is thought to be about 300-400 kgwhich, assuming a yield of 1.5-2.0 kg a turtle, represents some 150-266large Hawksbills. The total annual mortality from deliberate fishing and asincidental catch by trawlers is estimated to be 2500-3500 C. mydas and300-1000 E. imbricata . Virtually every turtle noticed nesting on themainland coast is said to be killed, but more escape on the off-lying caysaround San Andres (Mast, 1986). The nests on the beach near Acandi aresubject to heavy human predation (Ramos Mora, 1987). On the Pacific coast,apart from some fishery of Bueno ventura, there is little deliberate huntingof turtles north of Tumaco, although there is a major shrimp fishery whichmay capture turtles accidentally. From Tumaco southwards, there is veryintense exploitation of turtles, probably mostly L. olivacea , by locals andfishermen based in Ecuador. Some E. imbricata are also caught (Olarte,1987).Hunting methods Harpooning used to be the main method of turtle capturebut now, most are taken with large-mesh nets, set for days at a time. Thisenables more turtles to be caught and facilitates keeping them alive longerfor commercial sales. Significant numbers are killed opportunistically byscuba divers spearfishing or catching lobsters. The turning of nestingfemales occurs mainly from the eastern edge of Parque Nacional Tayrona tothe mouth of the Rio Don Diego and in the outer cays of the San AndresArchipelago (Mast, 1986). Parsons (1972) described a net, used by fishermenin Providencia in the nineteenth century, which was attached to a five-footiron hoop. This was dropped over the turtle when it rose to breathe. InAcandi, harpoons are mainly used by fishermen (Ramos Mora, 1987).Historical trends Mast (1986) reported that the reduced abundance ofturtles in Colombian waters was making them increasingly difficult forfishermen to catch.Providencia has had a long tradition of Hawksbill fishery, and Yankeetrading vessels used to visit the islands in the 19th century to collect137