World Status, Exploitation and Trade - WIDECAST

BAHAMASEXPLOITATIONCommodity Higgs ( in litt. . 21 August 1986) reported Green Turtle meat tobe the major commodity derived from sea turtles in the Bahamas. Carr et al.(1982) noted that, on Andros and Abaco, Hawksbill was the preferred meat,and that turtles and their eggs were taken for subsistence use and forexport, and tortoiseshell was exported raw or prepared for sale to tourists.Hunting intensity During the period 1974-1977 Hawksbill was the speciesmost commonly landed at Nassau, but from 1981 onwards the Green Turtle waslanded in greater quantities (Table 16). The quantities of meat and shellwhich were estimated to have been produced between 1980 and 1982 are givenin Table 17. Table 18 indicates the islands from which the turtles landedat Nassau were said to have originated. Carr et al. (1982) noted thatapproximately 30 turtles were caught annually at Inagua between 1970 and1976. Nassau was by far the main port for landings of turtles, butsignificant quantities were also landed at other sites (Table 19).Domestic trade Turtles and tortoiseshell from throughout the Bahamaswere shipped to Nassau to be prepared for sale to tourists or for export;from 1966 to 1969 B$65 000 worth of tortoiseshell was landed at Nassau (Carret al. . 1982). Higgs (1984) reported the market price of Hawksbill andGreen Turtle meat to be US$2.20 a kg and the price of Hawksbill shell to beUS$44.00 a kg.Table 16. Landings of sea turtles in the Bahamas. Figures for C. mydasand E. imbricata from various sources: 1974-1977 (Carr et al. . 1982);1980-82 (Higgs, 1984); 1983-85 (Higgs, in litt. , 21 August 1986). The FAOcatch statistics (in tonnes) for "Marine turtles, not elsewhere specified"are also given.1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985C. mydas 2877 4210 4610 4364E. imb. 10000 12816 14326 17366- 4006 9154 12346 10226 20370 32915- 19769 7888 3856 8854 13194 5663FAO (t) 38 29 30 33 46 26 26 26 29 28 46Table 17. Official statistics of turtle production in the Bahamas(1980-1982) based on landing statistics and export returns (Higgs, 1984)PRODUCT 1980 1981 1982C. mydas meat (kg)E. imbricata meat (kg)E. imbricata shell (kg)801.3