"wild" turtles. When conducting surveys in the 

 1950s, juveniles couldn't be found. They are also 

 being found along the east coast off Long Island, 

 New York. Now people are beginning to gather data 

 to help us understand the expatriate question in 

 the western Atlantic. These data suggest that 

 they are surviving and are a viable population in 

 the coastal Atlantic states. 



CAILLOUET: 



CHAIR: 



Attention was drawn to the survival rates on which 

 Rene Marquez reported earlier. Marquez is seeing 

 survival of 4 0% to 50%, which indicates that 

 extinction will occur in about 22 years. 



Comments from another panel member, the National 

 Representative from the Cayman Islands (J. 

 Parsons) were requested. The Cayman Islands are 

 working with the breeding stock and getting some 

 animals to nest. 



PARSONS : 



BIRCHFIELD; 



He apologized for not being up on the podium with 

 the panel and suggested that he would not be 

 missed because of the quality of the group. 



The Gladys Porter Zoo has been providing 

 additional personnel and equipment for the program 

 at Rancho Nuevo. 



CHAIR; 



Someone mentioned TEDs earlier. Discussion on 

 this point was really not needed. TEDs should be 

 used in all waters where shrimping and turtles co- 

 occur at all times. 



WIBBELS ; 

 MARQUEZ ; 



Has anyone looked at sex ratios at Rancho Nuevo? 



About 2,000-3,000 hatchlings have been preserved 

 in formalin. No information at the moment was 

 available, but work was in progress. He also had 

 a number of hawksbills to examine. 



MROSOVSKY; 



The need for patience was expressed. He hoped 

 that the TED will work. In light of the continued 

 decline in nesting numbers at Rancho Nuevo, the 

 panel was asked what thoughts they have given to 

 developing a contingency plan in case these 

 actions don't work. 



CHAIR: 



The captive breeding stock at the Cayman Turtle 

 Farm may be the last resort. The only good news 



172 



