World Status, Exploitation and Trade - WIDECAST

FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIAForaging sites Suitable foraging habitat appears to be widespread; nodetails are available.EXPLOITATIONCommodity Turtle meat and eggs are widely eaten, but there are manytraditional taboos attached to the killing, preparation and eating of theturtles, particularly in the Yap district. Hawksbill shell was formerlyused for fish hooks and ornaments by the Trukese (Johannes, 1985).Hunting intensity Pritchard (1982b) reported that rather few fishermenwere operating in Truk Lagoon, but that a turtle could be obtained ondemand. In the Ponape District, the local people at Oroluk Atoll were saidto catch and eat a substantial proportion of the nesting turtles(Pritchard, 1982b). A stone holding-pen had been built to keep turtles toawait the visiting Government ship which transported them for sale inPonape. However this practice was stopped by the enforcement of theEndangered Species Act (Johannes, 1986).Hunting methods McCoy (1974) provided descriptions of some of thetechniques of turtle capture. Visits are often made to West Fayu to catchturtles mating in the lagoon, either by attaching hooks or by simplywrestling with the turtles and tying a rope to the flippers. Spearing is acommon method at Truk (Pritchard, 1982b) and nets have been used at someislands (Johannes, 1986).Historical trends The taboos associated with the eating of turtle meathave had an effect in limiting the exploitation. The consumption of eggs isnot generally subject to the same restrictions. Many of the taboos werestill operative in Yap in the 1970s. The introduction of outboard motorshas greatly facilitated the visits to some of the distant islands (Johannes,1986).Domestic trade Pritchard (1982b) reported a small amount of inter-islandtrade in turtles for meat, and said that Hawksbill shell ornaments were soldto tourists at Truk.International trade See under "PALAU".LEGISLATIONCode of Federated States of Micronesia. Title 23, Section 105.The taking of E. imbricata of lengths less than 27 inches (68.6 cm) andof C. mydas of less than 34 inches (86.4 cm) is prohibited.Taking of any turtles during the periods 1 June-31 August and1 December-31 January is prohibited.Turtles may not be killed on shore, and their eggs may not be collected.The USA Endangered Species Act (q.v.) used to apply to the Trust Territory,but there was a special exemption to allow a subsistence take of C. mydas .However, since November 1986 the Act no longer applies.184