The chair introduced N. Frazer who discussed management 

 options and issues and presented a model for managing sea turtle 

 populations. The chair then asked each of the panel members to 

 provide comments on management options and related topics. 



AGARDY ; 



BJORNDAL ; 



CROUSE ; 



DAMMANN; 



In the northeast United States, sea turtle 

 conservation is perceived to be someone else's 

 problem. In third world countries, sea turtles 

 are harvested for food and other uses, and in the 

 southeastern United States the incidental take of 

 sea turtles in shrimp trawls is a problem. The 

 leatherback is a northeast U.S. problem. Adult 

 mortality is generated in the northeast. 

 Leatherbacks ingest plastic and other pollutants, 

 and interactions with ship traffic are increasing. 

 Strandings are seen as a northeast problem. These 

 losses are having adverse affects on recruitment. 

 We must try and convince everyone that sea turtle 

 conservation is a shared problem, and that we must 

 work together to conserve sea turtles. 



A commonly proposed management plan for olive 

 ridleys calls for taking the so-called doomed eggs 

 or the eggs from the first arribada because of the 

 damage to the nests from subsequent arribadas. S. 

 Cornelius at Nancite, Costa Rica, has shown that 

 following such a plan would result in harvesting 

 the only eggs that would have hatched. We must be 

 careful to ensure that general management plans 

 are appropriate for the specific locality where 

 they will be implemented. 



People are concerned about using models when few 

 data are available. However, the sensitivity of 

 these models with respect to data gaps can be 

 evaluated. This will help us decide which data 

 are needed to make management decisions. Large 

 juvenile sea turtles have reproductive value and 

 are the next breeding stock. If harvesting is 

 absolutely necessary, then it should be confined 

 to smaller juveniles, which have a lower 

 reproductive value. 



He had been trying to select and justify 

 management options for a number of years. If 

 turtles absolutely must be harvested, then this 

 becomes a fishery management problem. Can we tell 

 from available data — i.e., a reproductive 

 decrease — when senility occurs in sea turtles? 



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