World Status, Exploitation and Trade - WIDECAST

SOLOHOK ISLANDSMigration Two E. imbricata tagged in the Solomons have been recoveredelsewhere in the group, having travelled a minimum of 30 and 50 km. Twofurther tag returns have demonstrated long distance international movements:one female tagged on Kerehikapa on 5 December 1976 was killed in February1976 at Fisherman's Island in Papua New Guinea (Central Province), havingcovered 1400 km; a second female tagged on 31 March 1979 at Sakeman's Reefin Australia (Torres Straits) nested on Kerehikapa on 16 February 1980,having travelled 3600 km (Vaughan, 1981). Vaughan believes that not all theE. imbricata nesting in Kerehikapa are resident in the immediate vicinity;the two International tag returns suggest that at least some of theHawksbills nesting in the Solomons migrate to nest from foraging grounds inthe Australia-Papua New Guinea region.EXPLOITATIONCommodity All species of turtle are exploited for their meat and eggs onthe Solomon Islands. C. mydas is the favourite for meat, but many peoplerelish E. imbricata . Turtles are occasionally consumed at ceremonialfeasts, particularly Christmas and Easter, and are often hunted for thispurpose. There are several recorded cases of turtle poisoning; in most, thespecies was not known but in one case E. imbricata was implicated and inothers D. corlacea was the suggested cause. Most of the locals questionedhad never heard of turtle poisoning. Hawksbills are said to be seldomhunted specifically for meat, and most are hunted primarily for the sale ofshell. About 10% of the population are Seventh Day Adventlsts, who refrainfrom eating turtles for religious reasons (Vaughan, 1981).Hunting intensity The rate of egg collection is said to be high, andeggs of all species are always taken if they can be found. Most beaches aresaid to be regularly visited even if they are not permanently Inhabited, and67% of the 76 nesting beaches visited were classified as having "high" humanusage. In Wagina, some nests are occasionally left to hatch unmolested, andthose which are found to be too far developed are often reburied. GreenTurtles are thought to have suffered less than Hawksbills from eggcollection because they tend to nest on more remote beaches (Vaughan, 1981).The level of subsistence hunting for C. mydas is not known, but interestedhunters are said to catch them throughout the year. At Furona, SantaYsabel, 49 were caught for a feast at Christmas 1980. Most of the Hawksbillshell for export derives from the Manning Strait and surrounding areas(Vaughan, 1981).Hunting methods Eggs are located mainly by reading the tracks on thesand, but occasionally sticks are used for probing. Once a nest has beenlocated, the eggs may be aged to calculate the probable time of re-emergengeof the female, from a knowledge of the Inter-nesting interval. Days arecounted by tying knots in a piece of rope so that the hunters know when toawait the female's return. Turtles are also caught at sea. The mostpopular methods are spears and specialised, large-mesh turtle nets, whichare often set at night. Canoes and outboards are increasingly being used tolocate and spear turtles. A technique of diving for turtles is becomingpopular in the west of the Islands, where it is believed to have beenIntroduced by the immigrant Gilbert Islanders (Vaughan, 1981).Historical trends There is no direct information on the past levels ofturtle exploitation, but the subsistence use of C. mydas is almost certainlyrelated to the human population which is growing at 3.4% a year. There has476