Socioeconomic Importance of Sea Turtles 



International Trade in Tortoiseshell (Marydele 

 Donnelly) 



The focus of this talk on international trade in hawksbill 

 shell in the Wider Caribbean* is Japanese trade. As the world's 

 largest trader in sea turtle products, Japan has contributed 

 significantly to the depletion of the hawksbill in the Wider 

 Caribbean and around the world. Although other nations have been 

 major markets for Caribbean shell in the past and French trade 

 continues to deplete hawksbills in the Lesser Antilles, the toll 

 which Japan has exacted on the hawksbills of the Wider Caribbean 

 has been unequalled by any other nation. 



My primary source of information is a report entitled 

 Japanese Sea Turtle Trade 1970-1986 by Milliken and Tokunaga 

 (1987) of TRAFFIC (JAPAN) , the wildlife trade monitoring arm of 

 the World Wildlife Fund. Commissioned earlier this year by the 

 Center for Environmental Education (CEE) in preparation for the 

 sixth biennial meeting of the Convention on International Trade 

 in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in July, 

 the major objectives of this report were to determine where 

 exploitation was occurring and estimate the number of turtles 

 that were utilized. Data were obtained from interviews with 

 Japanese dealers of hawksbill shell. 



Each year Japan imports approximately 30,000 kg of raw 

 hawksbill shell or bekko from around the world for its 

 traditional shell industry. For over 280 years, Japanese 

 artisans have produced the world's finest quality shell products 

 through a laborious process of heat, pressure, carving and 

 polishing. Beautiful and ornate combs, hair ornaments, and 

 jewelry are expensive and highly prized items. Bekko eyeglass 

 frames are also very popular in Japan. 



In many areas of the world, international trade in sea 

 turtle products has been restricted by CITES, the major 



* The Wider Caribbean is a diverse region, and the socioeconomic 

 importance of sea turtles varies widely from one area to another. 

 Historically, sea turtles have been an important resource for 

 Caribbean people, and they have been heavily exploited for local 

 consumption (Bacon et al. 1984) and international trade (Mack et 

 al. 1982; Carr et al. 1982; Roet 1983; Meylan 1984a; Canin and 

 Luxmoore 1985) . Populations of all species are declining in the 

 region (Bacon et al. 1984) . Because sea turtles are migratory 

 and the waters of many nations are easily accessible to their 

 neighbors, solutions to exploitation must be devised and agreed 

 upon on a regional basis. 



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