WEBER: 



THOMPSON; 



LANDRY; 



LAWRENCE ; 



FULLER; 



FRETEY; 



Shouldn't we look at this? Can we obtain data at 

 the ports where catch is off loaded? Puerto Rico, 

 Miami, British Virgin Islands? 



Information on the Japanese swordfish fishery in 

 the Gulf of Mexico indicated that 204 turtles were 

 taken between 1978-1981. There is no information 

 on the U.S. swordfish fishery, and an observer 

 program is needed. 



A limited observer program is conducted by the 

 University of Puerto Rico Sea Grant. The paper on 

 Japanese long line catch was authored by W. 

 Witzell. 



An intercept (interview) program at landing ports 

 may be an alternative to an observer program. He 

 asked about catch per effort data in countries 

 allowing harvest. These data should be collected 

 from fishermen and possibly utilized to monitor 

 populations, as catch is density dependent. 



Swordfish fishing is conducted by U.S. and 

 Japanese boats. This needs to be addressed. 



(National representative of Antigua) . Longliners 

 in the eastern Caribbean are small fiberglass 

 boats: turtles are caught and thrown overboard. 

 An intercept (interview) program will not work, 

 the fishermen will not tell you what they caught. 

 He was unable to understand the "bad gene" 

 hypothesis discussed by Mrosovsky. 



Saving doomed eggs through translocation sends a 

 greater public education message about 

 conservation. He asked Mrosovsky how we intervene 

 in terms of "bad gene" nests without playing with 

 witchcraft. 



MROSOVSKY; 



There is a problem in choosing which is better to 

 do. 



GOMEZ ; 



Two recent reports (unpublished) show two turtles 

 tagged at Aves Island were recaptured nesting at a 

 different locality. One female nested 11 days 

 later on Mona Island, and one female nested 9 days 

 later on St. Kitt's. 



LAWRENCE ; 



There is no need for research on ocean debris; 

 there is a need for immediate action to stop this 

 pollution. 



286 



