World Status, Exploitation and Trade - WIDECAST

PALAU REPUBLICPOPULATION :Chelonia mydasNesting sites Some nesting has been reported (probably this species) onNgeruangel at the northern extremity of the Palau group, and on Beliliou andMorei. Although sparse nesting is recorded in the north and south of thePalau Archipelago, by far the most important sites are Merir and Helen'sReef, isolated in the far south (Pritchard, 1982b; Johannes, 1986). Somenesting also occurs on Tobi , Sonsorol and Pulo Anna, which with Merir andHelen constitute the South West Islands region of Palau (Johannes, 1986).Nesting numbers Nesting appears to be sporadic and to involve smallnumbers in northern Palau, but substantial numbers nested (in the late1970s) on Merir and Helen (Pritchard, 1977 and 1982b). According toPritchard (1977) these two islands probably support the largest C. mydaspopulation in Micronesia; Pritchard estimated that up to several dozen maynest nightly. No recent or detailed information is available, however.Trends in nesting numbers No details are available; Pritchard (1977 and1982b) suggested that turtle populations in general in Micronesia haveprobably been declining slowly for centuries, and that current exploitationis likely to be adversely affecting turtle populations. Older Palauanfishermen were unanimous in their opinion that turtles were far lessabundant in the mid-1970s than they had been 20-30 years previously, with aparticularly noticeable decrease in the number of large C. mydas (Johannes,1986). Although turtles seem never to have been abundant around Tobi, localresidents reported to Johannes (1986) that numbers had decreased further inrecent years.Nesting season Nesting on Merir and Helen appears to take placethroughout the year (Pritchard, 1977).Foraging sites Suitable foraging grounds appear to be widespread. Inthe late 1960s (source cited in Pritchard, 1982b) mature C. mydas werecommon in Ngaruangl Lagoon, and, resident throughout the year, fed onseagrass pastures, particularly along the western edge of the reef. Thisspecies is infrequently encountered in the main Palau Lagoon system(Pritchard, 1982b).POPULATION : Eretmochalys imbrlcataNesting sites Palau is the only part of Micronesia where this speciesappears to be more common than C. mydas (Pritchard, 1982b) . Nesting occurson small beaches in the Seventy Islands area of Palau Lagoon (Johannes,1986), the two most-favoured being Eomogan and Ngerugelbtang, withoccasional nesting on Ulong (Aulong) , Nelangas, Ngebedangel, Unkaseri, andBablomekang (Abappaomogan) (Pritchard, 1982b). According to Broughton(1986), nesting occurs on the rock islands south of Koror (precise locationswere not given). No information is available on nesting by this species atthe southern islands of Merir and Helen's Reef.Nesting numbers Almost no details are available; one observer (cited inPritchard, 1982b) saw three E. imbrlcata nest on Eomogan on one night, saidto be one of the most Important Hawksblll nest sites in Palau. Thisfragmentary evidence suggests that the Palau nesting population is notlarge. Mllliken and Tokunaga (1987b) reported that egg collecting visits403