World Status, Exploitation and Trade - WIDECAST

INDONESIAlaid at Pangumbahan. Schulz (1984) cited egg harvest figures quoted earlierby Polunin (1975), collected by S. Somadikarta (1961-1962 period) andY. Muchson (1973-1974 period); these are presented in Table 85. The eggharvest has declined by more than 70% over 15 years; given that virtuallyall eggs laid are collected, this indicates a correspondingly severe declinein numbers of nesting turtles. It seems possible that this decline is to alarge extent a consequence of the initiation of a near-lOOIt egg harvest some30 years ago. Schulz (1984:13) estimates the total current egg productionat Citirem and Pangumbahan combined as 560 000, which suggest either thatsome recruitment has been occurring over the past 30 years, or that maturefemales have been moving into the Pangumbahan area. However, as Schulzpointed out, the current near total egg harvest cannot be sustainable, and acrash in the last important C. mydas population nesting in Java seemsinevitable unless the egg harvest is very substantially reduced.Table 85. Approximate egg harvest at Pangumbahan, south-west Java, withapproximate number of nesting females, in total (from Schulz, 1984), andannually (calculated on Schulz' s assumption of 120 eggs per clutch and threeclutches annually per female).Period Eggs collected Nesting femalesTotal Annual1950s 2 500 000 20 000 7 0001967 1 250 000+1973-1974 509 000 4 000 1 400TasikmalayaThis black volcanic sand beach extends for some 10 km around the mouth ofthe Cilangka River in south-west Java. Reportedly, C. mydas used to nest insizeable numbers, but nesting has declined sharply over the past 20 years(due to destruction of beach forest with subsequent erosion, excess harvestof turtles and eggs, and recreational activities on the beach); now about100 nests are laid annually in the eastern sector and no turtles nest in thewest.Blambangan PeninsulaThe nest beach at Gajagan is regularly patrolled but the more importantbeaches on the east coast of the Peninsula are not, and all nests are takenby local inhabitants; turtles feeding off shore are taken by Balinesefishermen. Schulz (1987) estimates that Gajagan held around 20 C. mydasnests in each year 1985 and 1986; the eastern beaches hold around 80 nestsannually.SukamadeThis beach lies within Meru Betiri National Park in south-east Java, andremains the single fully protected nesting beach in Indonesia. Four seaturtle species nest at Sukamade, with C. mydas predominant by far and veryfew E. imbricata . Information presented by Schulz (1985) is given inTable 86. The figures indicate a marked decline in nesting prior toprotection of the area in 1980, attributed to excess harvest of eggs, andsome degree of decline after 1980. Present threats include poaching,predation by wild pigs, and inappropriate hatchery procedures (Schulz,1984); Schulz recommended that the pigs be eradicated and then the nestsleft to hatch naturally rather than be transplanted to a hatchery.246