Sea Turtle Recovery Action Plan for St. Kitts and Nevis - WIDECAST

St. Kitts and Nevis Sea Turtles…specifically for this purpose". The catch that year (47 turtles, mostly female hawksbills) was low(Barrett, 1988). There are no comparable data for St. Kitts. From interviews conducted duringthe development of this Recovery Action Plan, the authors estimate that the catch may approach100 turtles per year in St. Kitts and that this has been the case for most of the 1980's. Whilethere are relatively few "turtle fishermen", most likely less than 10, an increasing number ofspear-fishermen are targeting turtles whenever the opportunity arises.In the past, most turtles were captured in nets designed to ensnare them. The nets rangedfrom 50-75 feet in length and 7-10 feet deep, with a mesh size of 8-10 inches. Some turtles weretaken during nesting. Some turtle fishermen claim that by watching the sky, such as for"pitching stars", they could predict when a turtle was likely to nest. Today the tradition ofstaying up all night waiting to capture egg-bearing turtles on the nesting beach continues in bothSt. Kitts and Nevis, especially in the "turtle villages" (e.g., Sandy Point, Cayon, Keys) of St.Kitts. Eggs are routinely collected on both islands. It is widely claimed that virtually every eggis harvested and either shared with friends or, more rarely, sold. Turtles are also taken from thesea. Large-mesh turtle nets are regularly set by Nevisian fishermen in Nevisian waters and in thebays of the Southeast Peninsula (Audra Barrett, Assistant Fisheries Officer, pers. comm., 1992).Turtle nets are rarely set by Kittitian fishermen. A significant number of fishermen andrecreational divers take turtles opportunistically, in and out of season, by spearing. Theopportunistic take is certain to be higher than the directed take at the present time. Many ofthose captured are under-sized (turtles less than 20 lb (9 kg) are protected; see section 4.21).According to Kenneth Samuel, native Kittitian, former turtle hunter and long-time diver,the hawksbill turtle is becoming rare in St. Kitts, at least in Caribbean (south shore) waters. Thefew individuals once seen around the Talata wreck in Basseterre Harbour were lost about threeyears ago when a local fishermen set his nets on the wreck. Samuel knows of only one site (theRiver Taw wreck) where they have been regularly seen in recent years. Other divers andfishermen contend that there are several shallow reef sites where hawksbills are observed. Noone, however, disputes a serious decline in numbers over the course of recent decades. Twentyyears ago, hunters would let a female nest up to six times on South Friar's Beach before killingher "and the attending male" (K. Samuel, pers. comm., 1992). In contrast, not a single nest wasreported on South Friar's Beach from 29 June-12 August 1992. When Samuel became involvedin dive-tourism and realised the extent to which marine resources were deteriorating, he gave upturtle hunting. Similarly, Charles Solas recalls that in years past he had his choice of six or moreleatherbacks per night on the Atlantic beaches of St. Kitts; now many nights go by during thenesting season before a female comes ashore. There are beaches on both islands where nestingoccurred in the past, but no longer. Today turtle hunting is largely a past-time, a culturaltradition, for participating fishermen. There are no full-time turtle fishermen.From 1948-1992, regulations were in force to regulate the harvest of sea turtles. TheTurtle Ordinance of 1948 protected turtles less than 20 lb (9 kg) and prohibited the killing, saleor possession of any turtle product between 1 June and 30 September. During the open seasonthe meat of both hawksbill and green turtles was sold mostly to hotel restaurants; the shells wereoften used for wall decorations or jewelry. Today most restaurants refuse to buy turtle meat,some in deference to the endangered status of local and regional populations. There is a limitedmarket on St. Kitts for oil rendered from the leatherback, which is used for medicinal purposes.Page 3