1999 

 OUR LIVING OCEANS 



Oiive ridley. 



gerheads arc declining in that area. 



The leathcrback is a pelagic species that prob- 

 ably occurs near all U.S. Pacific islands, is ohen 

 sighted in U.S. west coast waters, and is widelv 

 distributed on the high seas. Principal Ic.itherback 

 nesting populations occur in the Solomon Islands, 

 Irian Java, Papua New Guinea, Mexico, Costa 

 Rica, and peninsular Malaysia. I.cathcrbacks are 

 seriously declining at all major nesting beaches 

 throughout the Pacific. The decline is dramatic 

 along the Pacific Coasts ol Mexico and Costa Rica 

 and coastal Malaysia. Nesting along the Pacific 

 Coast of Mexico declined at an annual rate of 22"'o 

 over the last 12 years, and the Malaysian popula- 

 tion represents 1% of the levels recorded in the 

 19S0's. Fhe collapse of these nesting populations 

 was precipitated bv a tremendous overharvest of 

 eggs, direct harvest of adults, and incidental mor- 

 tality from fishing. 



The hawksbill is typically more insular than 

 other sea turtles and is usually associated with coral 

 reefs. Although not all U.S. -flag islands in the cen- 

 tral-western Pacific have been surveyed, the hawks- 

 bill and the green turtle probably occur at most of 

 them. The USFWS estimates that 30-4() hawks- 

 hills nest (in the Main I l.iw aiian beaches each year, 

 primarily along the east coast of the island of Ha- 

 waii. I'he number of hawksbills present in Ameri- 

 can Samoa and Guam is unknown, but nesting 

 has been observed at Rose Atoll and the Manua 

 Islands in American S.imo.i. fhe status of the 

 hawksbill throughout the Pacific is unknown, but 



continued exploitation ol hawksbills for their shells 

 in areas outside the Lhiited States makes them a 

 special conservation concern, fhe most important 

 conservation achievement m recent years was 

 Japan's decision to end the import of hawksbill 

 shell. Further tieclines are possible if trade is re- 

 newed. 



Fhe green turtle is the most widely distrib- 

 uted sea turtle species in U.S. Pacific waters, par- 

 ticularly in Hawaii. A USFWS nesting survey 

 ti)uiui that in 1997 about SOO green turtles nested 

 at East Island, a small, sandy islet at French Frig- 

 ate Shoals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, 

 where about 50% of all Hawaii green turtle nest- 

 ing is assumed to occur. Fhe green turtle nesting 

 population at F^ast Island appears to have tripled 

 since NMFS initiated the annual surveys in 1973 

 (Figure 25-2). The increase in Hawaiian green 

 turtle nesting is attributed to a reduction of hu- 

 man-caused mortality after enactment of the ESA 

 111 19^74 "pj^g historic level of green turtle nesting 

 in Hawaii is unknown. In American Samoa the 

 primary nesting beach is at Rose Atoll where an 

 estimated 25 to 35 females nest annualK'. Fhe 

 number of green turtles in Guam is unknown, and 

 onlv sporadic nesting has been recorded there. 



ISSUES 



Bycatch and 

 Fisheries Interactions 



Sea turtles arc threatened b\- multiple factors, 

 most of which are human-related. A principal con- 

 cern is incidental capture in commercial fisheries. 

 Irawls, longline, and gillnet fisheries pose the 

 greatest threats. Prior to the implementation of 

 FED regulations, the National Academy of Sci- 

 ences estimated that a maximum of 44,000 sea 

 turtles, mostly loggerheads and Kemp's ridleys, 

 were killed annually in the Gulf of Mexico and 

 southeastern U.S. Atlantic shrimp fishery. While 

 FED use is mandated lor the shrimp fishery and 

 some of the summer flounder trawl fishery, recent 

 mortality events indicate that significant mortal- 

 ity is still occurring in some areas as a result of 

 these or other trawl fisheries. Sea turtles are also 

 taken and killed in pelagic longline, gillnet, and 

 lobster trap lines. Of particular concern are the 



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