World Status, Exploitation and Trade - WIDECAST

MALDIVESPOPULATION:Chelonia mydasNesting sites Turtles reportedly nest on the beaches of virtually alluninhabited Islands throughout the Maldives archipelago, and on a fewInhabited islands (M. Hassan Manlku in litt , 17 October 1986).Munch-Petersen ( in litt , 24 September 1986) spent several years in theMaldives, visiting all atolls and some 400 islets; he found both species inlarge numbers throughout the archipelago, with nesting, by C. mydas atleast, on numerous islands from the far north to the south. Questionnairesurveys reported by Frazier and Frazier (1987) indicated that theinhabitants of the northern atolls were slightly more familiar with GreenTurtles than those in the south. Major documented nest sites includeThiladunmathl Atoll (Mulhadhoo Island); Baa Atoll (Kunf unadhoo , Maadhoo,Olhugiri and Kanufushi Islands, and formerly Dhunlkolu, Fares, Maarlkilu andMirlyandhoo Islands); Arl Atoll (Hukureulhl Island); Meemu Atoll (unknownisland in the south-west); Thaa Atoll (Kanimeedhoo Island, formerly knownfor turtles); Laam Atoll (Gaadhoo Island). All other atolls are thoughtlikely to have turtle Islands (Frazier and Frazier, 1987).Nesting numbers A questionnaire survey of turtle breeding andexploitation in the Maldives was organised in 1983-1984 by N.T. Hasen Oidiand J. Frazier. Preliminary results suggest the presence of about 700 nestson four Islands of Baa atoll, five nests on North Mal4, three on South Male,around 30 on Ari , and around 260 on five islands of Laam atoll (M. HassanManiku in litt , 17 October 1986; preliminary results of questionnairesurvey by N.T. Hassen Didl and J. Frazier). The total estimated number ofnests per year on inhabited islands was 1305 which, assuming three nests perseason, represents 435 C. mydas . (n.b. at a later stage Frazier and Frazier(1987) stated that every nesting turtle was captured on some inhabitedislands, and so it is unlikely under these circumstances that each would laythree nests.] However, uninhabited islands are both more numerous and morefavoured by turtles, and they were not included in the survey. A "veryrough" estimate of nesting C. mydas is therefore about 870-1300 a year(Frazier and Frazier, 1987).Trends in nesting numbers The rise in turtle exploitation over the pasttwo decades is thought to have had a marked adverse effect on turtlepopulations (Colton, 1977; Munch-Petersen, 1985). Didi (1983) cites theIsland of Mulhadu, In the extreme north of the archipelago, asrepresentative of a trend toward declining turtle populations. According tohis informants on Mulhadu, 50 years ago 150-200 turtles would come ashorenightly to nest, but now probably one or two nest nightly (preliminaryresults of questionnaire survey by N.T. Hasen Didi and J. Frazier). Didi(1983) reports that there were so many turtle tracks, criss-crossing oneanother, that the island egg- collectors missed many nests and these wereable to hatch successfully (the Inhabitants of Mulhadu used to sell eggs onother Islands). These figures suggest that, whereas many thousands mighthave nested annually 50 years ago, annual numbers at present are likely tobe a few hundred at best; no other site in the Maldives (for whichinformation is available) approached the density at Mulhadu (preliminaryresults of questionnaire survey by N.T. Hasen Didl and J. Frazier). Similaranecdotal evidence exists for many Islands on four other atolls;questionnaire responses showed that turtles were considered to have declinedon 82% of the islands, stayed the same on 15% and Increased on only 2%.Declines were reported more frequently In the north than in the south.These estimates led Frazier and Frazier (1987) to conclude that a massivedecline in nesting numbers had occurred.328