World Status, Exploitation and Trade - WIDECAST

NETHERLANDS ANTILLESBay, Kay Bay and Crook. Bay, although these were not confirmed by otherinterviews.St Maarten: Meylan (1983) reported nesting at Guana Bay and Oyster Pondon the windward coast of the Dutch part of the island. Sybesma (1987b)recorded no recent nesting.Nesting numbers According to Meylan (1983), the number of turtlesnesting on Saba was undoubtedly very small; few turtles of any speciesnested on St Eustatius; and the frequency of nesting by all species onSt Maarten was "quite low".Trends in nesting numbers Turtles on Saba were considered to be "not soplentiful now", Hawlcsbills being thought to be particularly scarce.According to van Buurt (198Ab), informants reported a decline in turtlenesting in recent years on St Eustatius.Foraging sites Saba: Meylan (1983) presumed, from previous nettinglocations, foraging sites to be located at Fort Bay, Cove Bay and GreenIsland. Meylan (1983) also noted reports by local scuba divers ofHawlcsbills foraging at Green Island and on the reef at Core Gut Bay.Hawlcsbills were the most common turtle species seen by divers in 1986(Sybesma, 1986), though not in 1987 (Sybesma, 1987a).St Eustatius: Van Buurt (198Ab) reported foraging at Tumbledown Dick, andJenkins Bay. According to Meylan (1983), scuba divers saw Hawksbills of allsizes on the reefs around the island and off the south coast near WhiteWall. Meylan (1983) also reported the use of nets, twenty years ago, tocatch sea turtles at Orangestad Bay, Jenkins Bay and White Wall.St Maarten: Meylan (1983) reported Hawksbills foraging in reef habitatsalong the east coast of the island, especially off Oyster Pond, and also atPelican City, Molly Beday and Man o' War Shoal.THREATSThe beaches of St Maarten are subject to considerable tourist developmentand successful turtle nesting would be most unlikely. Saba and St Eustatiusare less affected (Sybesma, 1987a).EXPLOITATIONCommodity Turtle meat was popular amongst Sabans, and on St Maarten,souvenirs were made from turtles, and turtle steaks were eaten inrestaurants (Meylan, 1983).Hunting intensity Saba: Meylan (1983) reported finding no netfishermen in 1980, but noted the popularity of spearfishing amongst membersof scuba clubs. Club members estimated that only 10-20 turtles were killedannually with spearguns, but Meylan (1983) thought it likely that the catchexceeded this. Sybesma (1987b) reported that the three full-time fishermencatch a small number of turtles for their own consumption.St Eustatius: According to Meylan (1983), there appeared to be lesspressure from exploitation than elsewhere in the region. Netting was notpractised on the island and had not been for several years. Althoughturtles were captured by spearf i shermen , the usual markets for curios andturtle meat did not exist owing to the limited nature of tourism on theisland and the catch was consequently small. This was confirmed by Sybesma(1987a)378