1999 

 OUR LIVING OCEANS 



Green turtle exhibiting fibro 

 papillomatosis tumors. 



Progress 



In l')^).S, the NMFS and USFWS published 

 recovcr\' plans tor five species ot" Pacific sea turtles 

 and one distinct nesting population. Plans are 

 underway to revise some oi the U.S. Atlantic re- 

 covery plans which were completed in the earh' 

 1990's. Ihese plans describe and prioritize the ac- 

 tions which are necessary to conserve and recover 

 the species. 



Significant progress is being made in the moni- 

 toring ot Hawaiian green turtles by the NMhS 

 and the USFWS. A S-year series ot saturation sur- 

 veys, completed in 1992, led to the development 

 ot rigorous quantitative methods to estimate the 

 nesting population. Progress is also being made in 

 monitoring juvenile and subadiilt Hawaiian green 

 turtles in their nearshore habitat. Signiticant 

 progress has also been made in collaboration with 

 Mexico and the USFWS to establish and main- 

 tain more comprehensive nesting beach surveys 

 tor Kemp's ridleys. 



Progress has been made in the study of migra- 

 tory movements ot post-nesting sea turtles, to iden- 

 tity routes of travel and resident foraging grounds. 

 NMFS scientists have conducted higliK' success- 

 ful satellite telemetry studies with post-nesting Ha- 

 waiian and Florida green turtles and Florida log- 

 gerheads. 



A multidisciplinary research program is un- 

 derway to study the cause and eftects ot IP. Re- 

 search has been initiated on the possible etiolo- 

 gies ot the disease, including viruses, parasites, and 

 environmental pollutants. Recent research has 

 demonstrated the involvement ot both a retrovirus 



and a herpesvirus. In addition to field and labora- 

 tory research, statistical analysis and modeling 

 studies are underway to link FP incidence and se- 

 \erit\- to key aspects ot green turtle population dy- 

 namics and assess impacts ot the disease on popu- 

 lation recovery. 



In the 1 lawaii and Atlantic pelagic longline 

 fisheries tor tuna and swordfish, the incidental take 

 ot sea turtles is being monitored through a log- 

 book and observer program. Workshops have been 

 held to tormulate research techniqties to assess the 

 population level ettects ot hooking and entangle- 

 ment and to identify ways to reduce or mitigate 

 iiieidental capture. In related research, satellite 

 transmitters h.ue been deployed on sea turtles 

 hooked incidentally in the longline fishery to track 

 post-release mtwements to better understand the 

 loni;-term ettects o( hooking, f mkages between 

 sea turtle movements and oceanographic processes 

 are also being studied. Computer simulation mod- 

 els are under development to better assess the im- 

 pacts ot the Hawaii-based longline fishery. 



In the last decade considerable ettorts have 

 been expended to elucidate sea turtle management 

 Linits through the use ot genetic tools. There is a 

 high degree ot genetic structuring within ocean 

 basins for all species except the leatherback. These 

 genetically distinct management units arose as a 

 result ot genetic isolatit)n tacilitated by the spe- 

 cies' natal homing. While the animals do appear 

 to segregate when nesting, thev commingle on the 

 toraging grounds, sometimes thousands ot miles 

 away trom their natal beach (where they hatched). 

 The analyses ot genetic material trom turtles inci- 

 dentally taken in various fisheries can tell us which 

 populations are being impacted. 1 he 1 lawaii-based 

 longline fishery interacts with loggerheads trom 

 Japan, green turtles trom Hawaii and Mexico, and 

 leatherbacks trom both the eastern I'acitic (Mexico 

 or Costa Rica) and the southwestern Pacific (Irian 

 laya, Malaysia, or Solomon Islands). Analyses tor 

 olive ridleys are currently in progress. In the At- 

 lantic, the longline fisheries ot the eastern Atlan- 

 tic and the Mediterr.mean interact with logger- 

 heads from the western Atlantic (primarily United 

 States). Loggerheads inhabiting foraging habitats 

 along the east coast ot the U.S. originate trom the 

 United States, Mexico, and Brazil, tireen turtles 

 in the same area come trom Florida, the Carib- 



266 



