World Status, Exploitation and Trade - WIDECAST

HADAGASCA8local, and it never reaches the markets (Rabesandratana, 1985).(1980) gave the price of meat as US$0.43 a kg.FrazierTortoiseshell was sold by the fishermen for as little as US$2 a kg in 1971,changing hands in the capital for twice that price. Export values were saidto be US$20-56 a kg. There is a large domestic trade in small, stuffedturtles and in locally manufactured jewellery and trinkets. Hughes (1973a)estimated that about 1000 stuffed turtles were sold each year at an averageprice of FMG6000 (US$25.64).International trade Madagascar has long been a major exporter ofHawksbill shell (see above) and the estimated exports are given inTable 113. Zanzibar imported about 330 kg a year from Madagascar between1920 and 1964 (Frazier, 1980). More recent exports are indicated by theCustoms imports figures of Spain and Japan (Table 114), but the levels havenot been great. It appears that most of the shell harvested is now used inartisan industries on the island, the export of turtle products now beingillegal. Considerable quantities of tortoiseshell jewellery apparentlymanufactured in Madagascar and exported illegally are to be seen on sale inReunion (Luxmoore, 1987, unpublished).Madagascar ratified CITES on 20 August 1975 and has reported exports ofsmall quantities of turtle products, apparently as personal possessions, inmost years (Table 115).Table 113. Exports of tortoiseshell from Madagascar and the values of rawshell reported by various sources: 1863-1907 (Vaillant and Grandidier,1910), 1919-1928 (Petit, 1930), "before the war" (Decary, 1950), 1971(Hughes, 1973a). * in 1971, an additional 1175 kg of worked shell wasexported.Year Total wt (kg) Total value Value/kg1842