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The Pisco-San Andrés area (13°44'S, 76°13'W) in central Peru is known for a traditional historic sea turtle fishery. To determine if illegal captures and black market trade exist, we carried out bi-weekly sampling in dumpsites and coastal areas from 2009 to 2015. A total of 953 carapaces were encountered, which included mainly black turtles (Chelonia mydas, 92.2%) and to a lesser extent, olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea, 4.3%), leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea, 1.4%), and a single hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricate, 0.1%). The mean curved carapace length (CCL) was 59.1 for black turtles, 60.4 for olive ridleys and 113 cm for leatherbacks. For all species, most of turtles reported were juveniles and came largely from illegal captures (89%) and not from stranding reports (1.4%). Mean mortality was 8.1 carcasses km-1 year-1 at beaches and 160.2 carcasses year-1 at dumpsites. Main consumed prey items in black turtles were silverside fish eggs (47.9%), Chondracanthus seaweed (31.4%) and Paranthus sp., anemone (16.2%). Despite the big sampling effort, mortality estimates could be underestimated since big percentages are butchered and discarded at sea. Still, numbers remains high with almost 1000 turtles in a five-year period and an illegal trade persists. Urgent measures are needed to recover this endangered species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turtle fishing has a long history in the Caribbean. Early Caribbean accounts from New World sailors and adventurers noted an abundance of the marine reptile, which quickly became desired for its delicious meat and beautiful shell. Nowhere was the presence of sea turtle more pronounced than in the adjacent banks, cays and reefs of the Western Caribbean, where Europeans also noted the abilities developed by the indigenous peoples of the region to capture them. By the mid-eighteenth century, English-speaking inhabitants from the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Nicaragua and the Colombian islands of San Andrés and Old Providence took to the sea in search of green and hawksbill turtles. In doing so, they created a robust maritime commerce and distinctive seafaring culture, which continues to exist in these communities. In this article, we argue that the turtle trade facilitated the creation and recreation of a dynamic contact zone of ongoing transnational and cross-cultural encounters among indigenous, European and Afro-Caribbean inhabitants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The green turtle ( Chelonia mydas ) is classified as an endangered species on the IUCN Red List since 1986. This species is especially threatened in South America due to bycatch by fisheries along the northeastern coasts. It is particularly crucial to identify specific marine areas for conservation measures to safeguard green turtle rookeries in Suriname and French Guiana. Our study provides valuable information to attain this goal, describing the satellite tracking of post-nesting migration routes used by 16 green turtles fitted with Argos/GPS Fastloc satellite tags at the end of the nesting season. The data we obtained show a single migratory corridor: all the turtles followed a similar eastward route along the Guianan and the Brazilian coast. The GPS signal was lost for two individuals a few weeks after tracking commenced, suggesting that they were caught by fishermen. Thirteen turtles reached the coast of the state of Ceará (Brazil), where they spent at least one month. One turtle continued 700 km further to the coastal regions of Natal and Recife (Brazil), which are known feeding areas of the green turtle populations nesting on Ascension Island. The migratory corridor is essentially narrow, with a width of 22 km for most of the distance covered. It constitutes a major dynamic link between the nesting and feeding areas and crosses three Regional Management Units of the Atlantic basin. Since green turtles face a high risk of being caught in fishing nets, measures of protection should be implemented along this corridor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim We provide a global assessment of the current legal direct take of marine turtles, including the scale and species breakdown at country level, and investigate the significance of legal take to marine turtle populations within the wider context of global threats. Location World-wide. Methods We undertook a comprehensive review of the literature (> 500 publications) and contacted over 150 in-country experts to collate data for countries that permit the legal take of marine turtles (as of 1 January 2013). Current annual take for each country and species was estimated, and estimates were generated for the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Results Currently, 42 countries and territories permit direct take of turtles and collectively take in excess of 42,000 turtles per year, the majority of which (> 80%) are green turtles Chelonia mydas (Linnaeus 1758). Ten countries account for more than 90% of legal take each year with Papua New Guinea (36.1%) and Nicaragua (22.3%) accounting for more than half of the total global take. Since 1980, we estimate that more than 2 million turtles have been legally taken in these countries, with current levels < 60% of those in the 1980s. Main conclusions Our results provide the most comprehensive global synthesis of the legal take of turtles in recent years and suggest that legal take has the potential to be a driver of marine turtle population dynamics, comparable to mortality estimates through recorded bycatch. However, it is likely that illegal take, along with bycatch, is significantly under-recorded and far greater than the total level of directed legal take. This hampers the ability to assess the relative impacts of these threats to marine turtles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The extensive sea grass meadows in Torres Strait enable it to be a globally important habitat for the dugong, Dugong dugon, a marine mammal of cultural and dietary significance to Torres Strait Islanders and the basis for the substantial island-based fishery in the Torres Strait Protected Zone. Torres Strait sea grass communities are subjected to episodic diebacks which are now believed to be largely natural events. Information on dugong life history was obtained from specimens obtained from female dugongs as they were butchered for food by Indigenous hunters at two major dugong hunting communities in Torres Strait: Daru (9.04°S, 143.21°E) in 1978–1982 (a time of sea grass dieback and recovery) and Mabuiag Island (9.95°S, 142.15°E) in 1997–1999 (when sea grasses were abundant). Dugongs sampled in 1997–1999 had their first calf at younger ages (minimum of 6 cf. 10 years), and more frequently (interbirth interval based on all possible pregnancies 2.6±0.4 (S.E.)yr cf. 5.8±1.0yr) than the dugongs sampled in 1978–1982. Pregnancy rates increased monotonically during 1978–1982, coincident with sea grass recovery. The age distribution of the female dugongs collected in 1997–1999 also suggested a low birth rate between 1973 and 1983 and/or or a high level of mortality for animals born during this period. These results add to the evidence from other regions that the life history and reproductive rate of female dugongs are adversely affected by sea grass loss, the effect of which cannot be separated from a possible density-dependent response to changes in dugong population size. Many green turtles in Torres Strait were also in poor body condition coincident with the 1970s sea grass dieback. The impacts of future sea grass diebacks need to be anticipated when management options for the traditional Torres Strait fisheries for dugongs and green turtles are evaluated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Reducing by-catch of sea turtles in pelagic longline fisheries, in concert with activities to reduce other anthropogenic sources of mortality, may contribute to the recovery of marine turtle populations. Here, we review research on strategies to reduce sea turtle by-catch. Due to the state of management regimes in most longline fisheries, strategies to reduce turtle interactions must not only be effective but also must be commercially viable. Because most research has been initiated only recently, many results are not yet peer-reviewed, published or readily accessible. Moreover, most experiments have small sample sizes and have been conducted over only a few seasons in a small number of fisheries; many study designs preclude drawing conclusions about the independent effect of single factors on turtle by-catch and target catch rates; and few studies consider effects on other by-catch species. In the US North Atlantic longline swordfish fishery, 4.9-cm wide circle hooks with fish bait significantly reduced sea turtle by-catch rates and the proportion of hard-shell turtles that swallowed hooks vs. being hooked in the mouth compared to 4.0-cm wide J hooks with squid bait without compromising commercial viability for some target species. But these large circle hooks might not be effective or economically viable in other longline fisheries. The effectiveness and commercial viability of a turtle avoidance strategy may be fishery-specific, depending on the size and species of turtles and target fish and other differences between fleets. Testing of turtle avoidance methods in individual fleets may therefore be necessary. It is a priority to conduct trials in longline fleets that set gear shallow, those overlapping the most threatened turtle populations and fleets overlapping high densities of turtles such as those fishing near breeding colonies. In addition to trials using large 4.9-cm wide circle hooks in place of smaller J and Japan tuna hooks, other fishing strategies are under assessment. These include: (i) using small circle hooks (≤ 4.6-cm narrowest width) in place of smaller J and Japan tuna hooks; (ii) setting gear below turtle-abundant depths; (iii) single hooking fish bait vs. multiple hook threading; (iv) reducing gear soak time and retrieval during daytime; and (v) avoiding by-catch hotspots through fleet communication programmes and area and seasonal closures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a case study of turtle poacher Francisco Fisher who was incarcerated for hunting turtles in Baja California Sur, Mexico. Qualities of a good turtle catcher; Impact of a presidential decree that prohibits the catching and selling turtles on Fisher's business; Implications of Fisher's case for turtle poachers in the country. INSET: Blue Ocean Institute.

Presents information on a study which discussed the United States (US) imposition of turtle-excluder device on US shrimp-trawl nets and vessels and its import ban on shrimp captured by foreign vessels that did not meet the similar requirement. Background information on Shrimp/Sea Turtles case; Implications of the case to the US effort to protect sea turtles and for the multilateral dispute settlement; Conclusion.