World Status, Exploitation and Trade - WIDECAST

AUSTEUI.IADomestic trade Commercial sale of turtle products is illegal inQueensland, and Kowarsky (1982) concluded that such sales were nowinsignificant. He reported the current value of an adult turtle to be $160,while in 1973 it was between $10 and $15. Nietschmann (1984) described howhunters in the Torres Strait distributed their catch amongst their kinsmenin different households without any money changing hands, although the costof the fuel for the boats was born by the hunters. The total number ofindigenous people living in the region who could potentially use turtleproducts was estimated to be 4500 in the Torres Strait communities and 7552in the remainder of Queensland (Kowarsky, 1982).International trade Export of turtle products from Australia has beenillegal for some time, and none has been reported in the Australian Custoi.>sstatistics. Imports of bekko (the shell of E. imbricata ) and othertortoiseshell from Australia have been reported in Japanese Customsstatistics, and these are given in Table 15. No trade has been reportedsince 1979. Some turtles hunted in Australian waters are landed in Papua NewGuinea (q.v.). There is no other evidence of international trade in turtleproductsTable 15. Imports of turtle products to Japan from Australia reported inJapanese Customs statistics by weight (kg) and value (YIOOO).1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978Bekko (kg) 1654 894 397 364 977 1087 192" (YIOOO) 10696 6125 5400 9254 12173 15396 4414Other shell (kg)" (YIOOO)6188LEGISLATIONFisheries Act 1976 (Kowarsky, 1982)All Cheloniidae and Dermochelydae are protected. An exemption to thisrule is made for subsistence hunting by Aborigines and Torres StraitIslanders. Commercial hunting of turtles is prohibited.Commonwealth Fisheries Act. 1952-74. Fisheries Notice No. 48The taking of sea turtles is prohibited in proclaimed waters (i.e.outside the three-mile territorial limit). An exemption is made fortraditional fishing by indigenous inhabitants of an external Territory.In theory this would prohibit the hunting by Australian Aboriginals, butin practice the Act is applied to allow their traditional hunting tocontinueWildlife Protection (Regulation of Exports and Imports) Bill 1982Prohibits the export of all species on CITES Appendix I except forscientific purposes or for captive-bred specimens.77