World Status, Exploitation and Trade - WIDECAST

INTRODUCTIONcollect turtles, it must return with a larger cargo than would be collectedif it were merely necessary to drive a lorry on the local beach. If a mixedcargo is possible (including such commodities as copra, guano or beche demer) then the turtles need only comprise a small percentage of the wholecargo, but still more distant journeys might be made profitable. Theproblems of scale were clearly shown by the example of the turtle cannery,set up in the Cayman Islands in 1952, which had to close because it couldnot attain a high enough trade volume to reach its break-even point(Parsons, 1962), and that of a similar venture set up in Somalia in theearly 1960s, which demanded a great expansion in the range of turtle fishingup the Somali coast (Travis, 1967).These examples help to demonstrate the deleterious effects of commercialtrade on turtle populations, and many of the recorded dramatic declines havebeen correlated with the onset of commercial turtle hunting (King, 1982).Conversely, subsistence hunting has infrequently been blamed for causingsimilar declines, but this "negative evidence" requires cautiousassessment: it is self-evident that subsistence hunting is seldomadequately documented, and its long-term history is almost never known.Consequently it is not surprising that there is no documented decline of aturtle population caused by subsistence hunting. It may be that there areno large turtle populations left to decline in countries with a long historyof turtle hunting and that this is reflected in the present distribution ofbreeding populations.Implementing conservationstrategiesThe World Conservation Strategy, published in 1980, attempted to synthesisewhat was meant by conservation and what was needed to be done to achieveit. It recognised that natural resources always have been, always will beand, indeed, always must be exploited to ensure the survival of the humanpopulation. There is thus no need to justify the use of natural resources:this is as much a part of conservation as the setting up of naturereserves. What must be avoided is the abuse of natural resources. In thecase of sea turtles, history shows that this has seldom, if ever, beenachieved, and that few turtle populations have survived long-termexploitation without serious population declines and some have even becomeextinct. Turtle harvests are clearly not self-regulating and there istherefore a need to implement some form of conservation measures.Obtaining the political will for turtle conservation is a problem which hasexercised much discussion. Many people would instinctively be horrified atthe possibility of the extinction of turtles, but it is often argued (seeMrosovsky, 1983) that aesthetic reasons alone are not enough to persuade apoor country to implement costly conservation measures or forgo a valuableturtle harvest. The potential value of obtaining a sustainable harvest frommanaged turtle populations has been used as one of the main bargainingpoints in arguing for turtle conservation. If this argument is to be used,then it must be possible to define a harvest and management regimecompatible with conservation. If this cannot be done, and the onlymanagement strategy that can be recommended is one of total protection, thenother arguments must be found for dissuading countries from depleting theirturtle populations. Ehrenfeld (1976) argued strongly that utilitarianarguments for conservation were insufficient, and that more emphasis shouldbe laid on non-utilitarian motives, although others have questioned thevalue of such arguments in developing countries not imbued with aconservation ethic. Reichart (1982) made this point forcibly:31