World Status, Exploitation and Trade - WIDECAST

YEMEN,PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICPDR Yemen in CITES Annual Reports is a single shipment of 300 kg of meat ofC. mydas reported to have been imported by F.R. Germany in 1980.LEGISLATIONIn 1972 there was evidently no legal protection of sea turtles (Hirth andHollingworth, 1973). It is not known whether any of the suggestedprotective measures have since been implemented.RANCHINGHirth (1968) recommended that an experimental turtle ranch be established inKhor Umaira Bay, which would involve fencing it off and releasing hatchlingswithin it to feed on the natural seagrass pastures. Further considerationshowed that such a fence would require a capital outlay of at leastUS$800 000 and considerable maintenance costs. As a result, it was concludedthat Khor Umaira would be unsuitable for a turtle ranch, but therecommendation for the establishment of an experimental ranch was reiterated"in the event a more practical site is located" (Hirth and Hollingworth,1973). Not surprisingly, this suggestion does not appear to have beenfollowed up.568