World Status, Exploitation and Trade - WIDECAST

ISRAELHunting intensity There is little systematic fishing of turtles inIsrael still continuing. Trade in Acre has stopped completely since 1970,owing, according to Sella (1982), more to lack, of profit than to the lawagainst turtle fishing.Historical trends Reliable sources indicate that at least 30 000 seaturtles ( C. caretta and C. mydas ) were taken by fishing crews organised byone operator (Abu Hanafi) between the end of World War I and the late 1930s(Sella, 1982). This fishery was at a maximum in the mid-1930s off Nahariya,Haifa and Atlit, all in the vicinity of Acre (northern Israel), with 24boats ("12 crews of two boats each") working. At the height of the season600 turtles would be taken per day, 90% being C. mydas ,typically of100-150 kg (Sella, 1982). The mean annual harvest over the 20-year periodin question would be around 1500 turtles in all, including 1350 C. mydas .This would be a minimum take since other fishing crews were in operation atthe same time. The turtle fishery continued into the 1960s but on a muchreduced scale; it ceased altogether during World War II and subsequently wasbased on only occasional catches, not for export.Domestic trade Since 1970, trade in turtles in Acre has stoppedaltogether. Fishermen were encouraged to sell their entire turtle catch tobiologists for research purposes. Although some turtles were undoubtedlyslaughtered elsewhere, a total of 53 C. mydas were purchased in the marketin Acre in this way between 1963 and 1969 (Sella, 1982).International trade Hornell (193A, cited in Sella, 1982) described theexport of 2000 turtles a year from Palestine to Egypt; this implies that asignificant proportion, and possibly the great majority, of C. mydas Turtlescaught in Palestinean waters entered international trade. Given thepolitical circumstances then prevailing in the region, it seems likely thata large proportion of these arrived ultimately in the English market. Thereare no records of trade in sea turtle products from Israel in CITES AnnualReportsLEGISLATIONThe hunting of sea turtles is prohibited by law in Israel (Sella, 1982). Itis not certain under what legislation this is implemented, unless it Isunder the Wild Animals Protection Law, 1955, which prohibits the hunting of"protected" animals. An unofficial list of protected animals supplied bylUCN Environmental Law Centre included C. caretta , Chelonia , E. Imbricataand D. coriacea.271