World Status, Exploitation and Trade - WIDECAST

MEXICOno production at all was recorded (1948-52. 1957-63). Marquez (1976a)considered that declines in production were induced by the introduction ofplastics leading to a decline in demand, though also noting that since theinid-1960s demand had evidently increased again - highest recorded productionwas in the most recent year for which figures were available (4.87 tonnes in1973).Carr et al (1982) noted that large amounts of tortoiseshell jewellery andornaments were on sale in the towns of Veracruz (where whole stuffed turtleswere also on sale). Campeche and Merida. In 1978 Mortimer visited aworkshop in Veracruz and wan told liat raw carey ( Eretmochelys ) shell wasbecomi:.^, Jiificult to obtai^> both because it was illegal and bec-iuse theturtles were bscowng scarce, the workshop was thus reducing the productionof tortoiseshell jewellery and concentrating on plastics (Carr et al . .1982).International trade See Pacific Mexico below.MEXICO:PACIFICPOPULATION :Chelonia nydaaNesting sites Large scale nosting is, or has been, apparently confinedto the coast of Michoacan (Cliff ton, 1934; Alvarado and Figueroa, 1986).Marquez (1976b) also reports nesting at the following sites: the 63 km Playade Mismaloya between Ipala and Roca Ncgra in Jalisco (Mirquez, 1976b; ;the12 km Playa de Piedra de Tlacoyunque between Morro de Papanoa and Barra deSan Luis in Guerrero; the 7 , 5 km Playa de la Escobilla between theCozoaltepec and Tonameca Rivers in Oaxaca.In Michoacan, nesting is reported \i\ the area between Faro de Bucerias(18"19'N. 103"'29'W) and the delta of the Rio Nexpa (18'08'N, 102">58'W), adistance' of c . 60 km (Alvarado and F.gueroa, 1986). Fifteen beaches withinthis stretch are used, with large scs'f nesting occurring on two, Colola andMaruata (Alvarado and Figueroa. 1986) Colola is an open unprotected beachrunning east-west, 4.8 km tong and 35u m wide; Maruata, located in MaruataBay, also runs east-west and has a le.-igth of 2.24 km and maximum width of40 m.Nesting takes place in some number on Socorro and Clarion in the RevillaGigedo Islands. In 1976 nestir?, den.';i^v of 0.027 per sq. m was estimated atBahia Sulfur on Isla Clarion; the sizi of the nesting beach is not given,although at least 13 female turtles visited the nest in three days inOctober of that year (Awbrey et al , 1^84). Beebe (cited in Parsons, 1962)observed 50 Green Turtles engaged in courtship activities off the coast ofClarion in May 1937; a few days later hfe counted 40 fresh tracks on a beachon the south side of the island. Clarion was uninhabited at that time, andno reference was made to exploitation there.There are early 18th century records (cited in Parsons, 1962) of largenumbers of turtles nesting on the Tres Marias Islands off the Nayarit coast;their identity ramains in some doubt. Edward Cooke who visited the islandsin October 1709 identified them as Green Turtles and noted that they were soabundant that two men could turn a hundred in a night; Parsons notes,however, that later accounts refer to the Tres Marias as a refuge forHawksbills Eretmochelys imbricata (q.v.). The present status of turtlepopulations here, if any, remains unknown.355