World Status, Exploitation and Trade - WIDECAST

GUADELOUPE AND DEPENDENCIESNesting season April bo September on Guadeloupe (Meylan, 1983).Foraging sites Hawksbills are year-round residents and are reported toforage off the central-east coast of Basse Terre near Petit-Bourg; foragingareas (for turtles generally) have also been reported around Marie Galanteand Les Saintes (Meylan, 1983).EXPLOITATIONCommodity The meat and eggs of all species of turtle are consumed; thereis also a great deal of trade in turtle souvenirs of all kinds, includingstuffed turtles, polished carapaces, tortoiseshell jewellery and artifacts(Carr et al. , 1982; Meylan, 1983).Hunting intensity Meylan (1983) stated that marine turtle were exploitedto a greater extent on Guadeloupe than anywhere else in the Lesser Antilleswith the possible exception of Martinique. Most exploitation was directlytied to the tourist Industry. Carr et al. (1982) indicate that fisheriesstatistics for Guadeloupe show an estimated annual take of 30 tonnes of seaturtle (whole animal weight, all species combined) for the period 1959-76;this includes figures for St BarthSlemy and St Martin although these aresaid to be only a small portion of the total. Fretey (1984b) stated thatthe real take was almost certainly considerably higher than this as therewas little systematic control of the fishery.Hunting methods Turtles are taken in nets (Meylan, 1983) and presumablyby other methods.Domestic trade As noted above, there is very heavy trade in tortoisesouvenirs to tourists. Although some of this evidently results in export ofthe products, some will be to mainland France and thus strictly domestictrade; it is not possible to quantify this. Meylan (1983) noted that thelargest producer of souvenirs was the prison at Basse Terre where prisonerswere trained to manufacture them; the prison sold products both wholesaleand at retail level. In December 1978 there were the products of at least103 turtles (Including 37 Green Turtles and 28 Hawksbills) in the storeroomsthere; this was considered a low number at that time (Meylan, 1983). In1978 polished carapaces were priced at US$69-184 (Meylan, 1983).International trade Meylan (1983) notes that some of the tortoiseshellworked in Guadeloupe is obtained from other Islands in the Lesser Antilles.She reported that tortoiseshell is exported to France, although as notedabove this Is strictly domestic trade.Japanese Customs statistics record the Import of raw bekko (shell ofE. Imbrlcata ) from the French West Indies (Table 70), although they do notspecify whether these refer to Guadeloupe or Martinique. Fretey (1984b)cited these figures as indicating exports from Guadeloupe. In 1977,Japanese Customs statistics also recorded the import of 38 kg of "othertortoiseshell" from the French West Indies. Official statistics from theDominican Republic show the export to Guadeloupe of 1S19 kg of turtlesbetween 1979 and 1983 (Ottenwalder , 1987b).Guadeloupe is covered by the French CITES report, and no trade in turtleproducts with Guadeloupe has been recorded by other Parties.206