World Status, Exploitation and Trade - WIDECAST

KIRIBATIHunting intensity Tarawa, Butaritari, Kuria, Aranuka and Nikunau arefive of the main areas for turtle fishing. In Tarawa, some 5-10 C. mydasare netted each day at the northern end, and a further 1-3 at the southernend. The average daily catch at Butaritari is 3-10, about half of which areC. mydas . Ten turtles, seemingly C. mydas . were caught in one trip atButaritari in 1985 (B. Yee Ting in litt. . 3 September 1986). An exceptionalcatch of 45 turtles was made in 1973. Most of the turtles are in the50-90 cm size range. At Betio (Tarawa) and Abemama, where turtles arespeared, some 2-5 turtles, mostly C. mydas . are caught each day. Divers cancatch about 2-3 turtles a day, though in good areas such as Teaoraereke(Tarawa), up to 12 can be caught. The total subsistence harvest of turtleson Tarawa (Table 109) was estimated from the numbers of known fishermen andtheir average catches during the peak four months* season (Anon., 1979c).Balazs (1975) reported that few turtles were taken on Canton Islands owingto the strict enforcement of conservation regulations by the militarypersonnel. However local ships visiting Gardner, Hull and Canton Islandsare said regularly to return with barrels of salted turtle meat (Anon.,1979c). People on Fanning Island are said to take turtles whenever possible(Balazs, 1982c).Table 109. Subsistence harvest of turtles in Tarawa, estimated from thenumber of hunters and the average daily catch during the peak four months*fishing season (Anon., 1979c).Method No of Turtles TurtlesHunters per day per yearNet 12 3 5 76Harpoon 6 2 48Diving 5 2 40Nesting 2 1 2Total 25 666Hunting methods Turtles are occasionally turned on the nesting beaches.In the Gilberts group there are many intricate methods of determining, fromthe number and state of development of the eggs, the day on which the femalewill return to lay. Coconut twine nets were used in Butaritari (NorthernGilberts) but monofilament nets are becoming more popular, and their use isspreading to other areas. Nets are 80-120 fathoms (150-220 m) long, with amesh size of 50 cm; they are usually set in the lagoons near the seagrassfeeding grounds. Harpooning is another popular method, particularly atBetio (Tarawa) and Abemama, and is usually carried out at night, thoughpower boats and pressure lamps are replacing canoes and leaf torches. Ripepandanus fruits are sometimes used as ground baits to attract turtles. Onthe steep reef-front on the ocean side of the islands, turtles are caughtduring the day as they rest in coral crevices. Divers descend with ropestied to log floats, which they tie or hook into the turtles (Anon., 1979c).Historical trends Increased demand for turtle meat and shell is said tohave caused an increase in fishing effort. Eighty percent of the turtles inTarawa are now caught by nets, a method which has increased in popularity inrecent years, and which allows much greater daily catches (Anon., 1979c).Christmas Island was discovered by Captain Cook in 1777, and his reports of294