World Status, Exploitation and Trade - WIDECAST

IRANfresh; it seems lilcely that a significant proportion were old nests or evennon-nesting tracks, and if nesting occurred at about half this rate, theseasonal total might be 50-100 females.Around 500 nests were recorded 8-18 June on Lavan and Shitvar. Thecoastline of Lavan is about 50 km in extent, with about 7 km of good nestingbeach. A total of 218 nests was recorded (including old and destroyednests), 79 of these on a 2-km beach between the village of Gart and theLAPCO oil loading pier. Shitvar is a small and uninhabited island, 3 sq. kmin area, 2 km from the eastern tip of Lavan. This island appears to be amajor Hawksbill nest site; 250-300 nests were found, 95% of these on one600 m beach on the island's eastern shore. By analogy with other knownpopulations, Ross and Barwani (1982) suggest that the observed nest signsrepresent nesting by at least 300 females annually; they estimate up to 1000may nest in Iran as a whole. The Lavan-Shitvar population, if persisting atthis density, would be amongst the largest localised populations known, andthe Shitvar beach one of the most important Hawksbill beaches in the world.Trends in nesting numbers No direct information, but exploitation anddisturbance appear to be significant and local population may be under somestressNesting season Confirmed Hawksbill nesting has been recorded inApril-May and in mid-June. The higher numbers recorded in the Gulf surveyin June are as likely to reflect peak nesting at this time as preferrednesting sites.Foraging sites Many of the Gulf and Straits islands support coral reefareas; Hawksbills have been seen off Hormuz and Queshm and, although thereis little direct evidence, Hawksbills may forage throughout this region.Three dead Hawksbills were found on the beach near Beris, in Baluchistan(Walczak and Kinunen, 1971), suggesting that individuals may forage widelyalong the southern coast of Iran.THREATSThere appears to be a low level of incidental catch and some nest predationby foxes, feral dogs, and possibly sand crabs Ocypoda (Kinunen and Walczak,1971). Oil spillage may have affected turtles or nest beaches.The current political situation is likely to have an adverse effect onturtle populations. News releases of November 1986 state that in responseto Iraqi attacks, all Iranian oil-loading facilities had been moved from theGulf to the Straits of Hormuz area; a 29 November 1986 news item stated thatIraqi jets had just bombed Larak, an island with extensive seagrass pasturesknown to support nesting and foraging turtles. Many further attacks in thearea had subsequently taken place.EXPLOITATIONCommodity Eggs are collected from nesting beaches on islands in the Gulfand the Straits of Hormuz, and presumably from mainland beaches also. Theyare not considered as a delicacy, but are collected mainly as a dietsupplement. Turtles are also taken on occasion; although the meat isdiscarded, there is a small, and probably rather new, market for preparedcarapaces (Kinunen and Walczak, 1971). In 1970, there was a small Industry268