Sea turtles are totally different than whales. 

 Anybody can catch a turtle. This is not the case 

 with whales. Enforcing the moratorium for sea 

 turtles would be far more difficult than for 

 whales. 



GARCIA! 



FRAZER; 



NATHAI-GYAN: 



Shrimp trawling may possibly be the principal 

 cause for the decline in sea turtles, but other 

 causes are known. An integrated research plan to 

 address this problem is needed. 



Could the take of hatchlings by predators be 

 increased if some eggs were moved to another area? 

 Would predators in the original area take all 

 these remaining hatchlings? For example, say 

 there are 500,000 eggs, and natural predators in 

 the area would take 250,000. If -250,000 eggs were 

 moved to another area, then would the remaining 

 250,000 be lost to predators? Most of those moved 

 could also be lost to predators in the new area. 



This was not an easy question to answer. Some 

 information about predation at the nest is 

 available but none for hatchlings in the water. 

 In general, vertebrate predators tend to react to 

 the availability of prey. Predation usually is 

 thought of in terms of some percent of the prey 

 species. This value may change with prey density. 

 By reducing the number of hatchlings in an area, 

 predators probably wouldn't eat them all. 



A complete moratorium should be supported, 

 otherwise people will catch the sizes they are not 

 supposed to and this will complicate enforcement. 

 Our enforcement officers already have a morale 

 problem. Something should be done to boost their 

 morale. 



HORROCKS ; 



The course shown by N. Frazer is based on a 

 population of known exploitation. If adults have 

 a high reproductive value, an upper size limit on 

 taking might be dangerous. The curve depends on 

 the probability of survival. If juveniles are 

 exploited, then the curve may change because 

 juvenile survival has changed. 



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