and this is the preferred meat of many residents of Martinique 

 and Guadeloupe. In Roseau, Dominica, the meat of a single 

 leatherback fetched $532 U.S. in January 1983 — and sold 

 rapidly. On Nevis, leatherback meat is not only eaten by locals, 

 but is mixed with that of other species and served in hotels. 

 And on St. Lucia, A. Meylan found six leatherback tracks on 

 Grande Anse in May 1982; the remains of slaughtered turtles were 

 present beside four of these six tracks. 



In conclusion, the outlook for the leatherback appears to be 

 bleak throughout the Antillean Islands, unless it turns out that 

 the nesting colonies in these islands are able to draw new 

 recruits from the (so far) safe and large mainland nesting 

 colonies in Surinam and French Guiana. The Central American 

 population may decline more slowly, but such a decline may be 

 very difficult to reverse, since it will derive from excessive 

 exploitation of the eggs, with the result of diminished or absent 

 recruitment to the pre-adult age classes. In Trinidad and, 

 especially, Guyana, how nesting populations of leatherbacks have 

 survived there at all, let alone shown the significant increase 

 that has occurred in the last two decades, is hard to understand. 

 We have much yet to learn about the population dynamics of sea 

 turtles. 



152 



