World Status, Exploitation and Trade - WIDECAST

EL SALVADORPOPULATION: Chelonia mydas and Eretmochelys imbricataN.B. Information from Cornelius (1981) is generalised; four species ofturtles nest in El Salvador ( Lepidochelys olivacea . Dermochelys coriacea .Eretmochelys imbricata and Chelonia mydas ). of which Lepidochelys isreportedly the most abundant and Eretmochelys the rarest.Nesting sites Cornelius (1981) notes that dispersed nesting of turtlesoccurs on all sandy beaches.Trends in nesting numbers Reports cited in 1981 indicated that turtlenesting in general had decreased abruptly in recent years (Cornelius, 1981).Nesting season Given for turtles in general as July-December (Cornelius,1981).THREATSCornelius (1981) notes that El Salvador appears to be the only country inMiddle America where beach destruction and alteration are serious threats tonesting habitat, principally through construction of tourist facilities nearthe high tide line causing beach erosion, and general pollution of theshoreline. Considerable numbers of turtles, apparently mostly Lepidochelys .are drowned in nets of the shrimp fleet which operates in nearshore watersfrom Estero Jaltapeque to the mouth of the Gulf of Fonseca (Cornelius, 1981).EXPLOITATIONExploitation of adult turtles is apparently very low, although there is asmall craft industry in tortoiseshell . Cornelius describes a well organiseddomestic egg trade. Some attempt has been made to control this - Decree 427of December 1977 prohibited the hunting, selling, buying, exporting andconsumption of all marine turtles and their eggs for the period of thefollowing year. During this time fewer eggs than previously were openlysold in the markets, although poaching on nesting beaches was apparentlyuninterrupted and bars and restaurants continued selling eggs with fewrestrictions. Zelaya (cited in Cornelius, 1981) states that 18 956 eggswere sold in three markets during September-December 1978 at around$2.50-3.00 per dozen, the high price being indicative of their scarcity.International trade El Salvador is not a signatory of CITES. All CITESreported trade with El Salvador has been reported by the USA and appears tobe insignificant compared with domestic production. From 1980 to 1984 some2291 turtle eggs were recorded as imported to the USA with origin ElSalvador. Of these, 861 were stated to be Chelonia mydas . 1265 Eretmochelysimbricata and the remainder unspecified Cheloniidae. Just over 19% wereseized as illegal imports. Thirty-one individuals and shells of Chelonia""ydas and eight pieces of Eretmochelys were exported to the USA in 1980; allthese were recorded as personal effects.LEGISLATIONDecreto No. 427, 22 December 1977.All hunting and export of sea turtles and their eggs was prohibited fora one year period beginning 9 January 1978.178