international wildlife treaty regulating the trade in endangered 

 species of animals and plants and their products. Under CITES 

 all species of sea turtles are listed on Appendix I which means 

 that trade is prohibited. CITES allows for reservations or 

 exceptions to Appendix I listings, however. When Japan acceded 

 to CITES in 1980, it took reservations on olive ridley, green, 

 and hawksbill turtles (the reservation on green turtles will be 

 dropped in November 1987) . At that time the Japanese government 

 set a maximum import quota of 30,000 kg of raw hawksbill shell 

 (between 1970 and 1979 Japan's imports of bekko varied from a low 

 of 34,223 kg to a high of 73,206 kg, with an average of 44,690 

 kg/year) . 



Japan is therefore allowed to continue to trade in sea 

 turtle products but only under certain conditions. A country 

 with a reservation cannot trade 1) with other CITES countries 

 without a legal export docvoment (which in most cases should not 

 be given) and 2) with a non-CITES country that prohibits trade in 

 that endangered species. Since acceding to CITES, Japan has 

 frequently violated these restrictions (Weber et al. 1983; Canin 

 and Luxmoore 1985) . 



The results of the Japanese sea turtle trade survey are 

 staggering in terms of the sheer volume of trade and the volume 

 of illegal trade in the Wider Caribbean. Between 1970-1986 Japan 

 imported 327,000 kg of shell, 51.1% of its total hawksbill shell 

 imports, from the Wider Caribbean. These figures are the 

 equivalent of 251,660 Caribbean hawksbill turtles. During this 

 16-year period, trade from the region was widely distributed, 

 with 26 countries providing shell. Over time, trading patterns 

 appear to have changed, in large part as a result of CITES 

 restrictions. In some areas there has been an increase in trade; 

 in others a decrease (Figures 1-17) . Overall, the Wider 

 Caribbean has continued to provide about 50% of Japan's shell 

 imports . 



Four major exporters — Panama, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and 

 Haiti — have provided three-quarters of Japan's imports from the 

 region. Patterns of trade from these four exporters are very 

 interesting. 



Panama (Fig. 15) supplied 15% of Japan's total imports for 

 the 16-year period, the equivalent of 75,906 hawksbill turtles. 

 While many of these turtles were of Panamanian origin, Panama 

 also served as a collecting point for shell harvested in the 

 region. Panama acceded to CITES in November 1978; according to 

 Japanese Trade Statistics, shell imports into Japan continued 

 until 1986. The government of Panama has informed TRAFFIC 

 (JAPAN) that no CITES export documents have been issued in the 

 last ten years. 



39 



