World Status, Exploitation and Trade - WIDECAST

MEXICOspecies listed, but gives no indication of abundance. The importance of thearea off the eastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula (Quintana Roo) isunclear. Carr et al. (1982) state that fringing reefs and seagrass beds areabundant here, though cite them as foraging habitat for Caretta andEretmochelys without specific mention of C . mydas . H&rquez (1984b) lists thefollowing areas: Cabo Catoche-Arrowsmith (c. 13 400 sq. km); north Cozumel(c. 470 sq. km); Bahia Ascencion (c. 560 sq. km); Bahia Espiritu Santu (c. 450sq. km); Banco Chinchorro (c. 565 sq. km); Bahia de Chetumel (c. 2600sq. km). He also cites C. mydas among the species occurring in each of theseareas but again gives no indication of abundance.Migration Little information. It is hypothesised that the turtles whichwere caught off the coast of Texas in the 19th century (mostly in Aransas andMatagorda Bays and the lower Laguna Madre) nested in Tamaulipas and northernVeracruz (see above). As of 1982, 24 turtles (presumably all C . mydas ) taggedat the nesting beaches of Tortuguero in Costa Rica had been recovered inforaging areas off north-east Quintana Roo, sufficient to imply a regular, ifsmall scale, migration between these areas (overall tag returns indicate thatthe great majority of the Tortuguero population forages off Nicaragua) (Carret al. . 1978; Carr et al . 1982). A single C. mydas tagged on Aves Island(Venezuela) in the eastern Caribbean has been recovered off Isla Mujeres(Meylan, 1981).POPULATION: Eretmochelys imbricataNesting sites Areas where Eretmochelys is known or believed to nest aregiven in Table 142; most information is from M&rquez (1984b and c). Two areasof relatively concentrated Hawksbill nesting are known: Isla Aguada and RioLagartos. The former extends for some 40 km between the eastern mouth ofLaguna de Terminos east to Sabancuy (Campeche; the latter for some 60 kmbetween Rio Lagartos and Cuyo (Yucatan). Isla Aguada, with 306 and 191 nestsin 1985 and 1986 respectively (M&rquez et al. . 1987), representing some 60-100females a season (assuming three clutches per female), is currently thelargest known Hawksbill nesting population in the entire wider Caribbean(Meylan, in press). The Rio Lagartos area held 114, 82 and 97 nests in 1985,1986 and 1987 (Castaneda Alvarado, 1987; Meylan, in press).Nesting numbers Estimated number of nests are given in Table 142 below.Mirquez (1984b and c) estimated that there may have been around 480 nestingfemales at investigated sites in the Gulf of Mexico region (Tamaulipas toYucatan/Quintana Roo in Table 142) in 1981 and a further 88 or so on theCaribbean coast of Mexico (Quintana Roo and offshore islands). In 1986( in litt. ) he estimated 350-500 nests at two sites in the Gulf of Mexico, IslaAguada and Rio Lagartos (Castaneda Alvarado, 1987; Mirquez et al . 1987).Trends in nesting numbers Little information is available. Carr et al.(1982) stated that the Hawksbill (along with the Green Turtle and Loggerhead)formerly nested abundantly on the coast between Montepio and Cerro San Martinin Veracruz but now rarely did so. Hildebrand (1981) wrote that thepopulation on the islands from Isla Lobos to Anton Lizardo off the coast ofVeracruz had persisted at low level for the past 25 years, despite constantexploitation.Nesting season Little information. M&rquez (1976b) states that at IslaContoy off Quintana Roo the species lays from April to July. At Rio Lagartos,Yucatan, nesting occurs mainly May-September (Castaneda Alvarado, 1987). Peaknesting on Isla Aguada is in June (Marquez et al . 1987).350