Our Liviiifi Ri'Sdiincs — Reptiles ami Aiiiphihum\ 



I2i 



practices. Most high-level nesting occurs on the 

 remaining inide\eloped or lightly developed 

 beaches. Even there, plans for development and 

 disorientation from lights pose serious and con- 

 tinuing problems. 



Kemp's Ridley 



At one lime, more than 40,000 females nest- 

 ed in a single mass nesting (termed "arribada") 

 in Tamaulipas, Mexico. Several arribadas prob- 

 ably occurred each year. Since 1947 a drastic 

 reduction in the number of nesting females 

 caused the near extinction of this species (Ross 

 et al. 1989). Today only about 400-500 turtles 

 nest each year despite stringent protection of the 

 nesting beach. The principal threat to this 

 species is incidental take during shrimp fishing. 



Leatherback and Hawksbill 



The leatherback and hawksbill are rare 

 nesters in the southeastern United States, but 

 offshore waters are important for feeding, rest- 

 ing, and as migratory coiTidors. The status and 

 trends of these species in U.S. offshore waters 

 are unknown, although they are severely threat- 

 ened throughout the Caribbean. Leatherbacks 

 are taken by trawlers or are otherwise entangled 

 in nets. Hawksbills are sought, especially in 

 Cuba, for their shell, which is used for jewelry 

 and similar items. The solitary nesting habits of 

 hawksbills make them particularly difficult to 

 monitor. 



Summary 



Sea turtles are threatened by beach develop- 

 ment, light pollution, ocean dumping, incidental 

 take in trawl and longline fisheries, disease 

 (especially fibropapillomas), and many other 

 variables. Because sea turtles are long-lived 

 species, trends are difficult to monitor. Present 

 methods of beach monitoring are extremely 

 labor-intensive, expensive, and biased toward 

 one segment of the population. Very little is 

 known about marine turtle life-history and habi- 

 tat requirements away from nesting beaches, 

 and virtually nothing is known about male tur- 

 tles. Because the effectiveness of measures 

 aimed at protecting turtles may not be seen for 

 decades, known conservation strategies should 

 be favored over unproven mitigation schemes. 

 Acquiring nesting habitat should be encour- 

 aged. One of the most important management 

 measures to protect sea turtles, especially of the 

 juvenile and subadult size class, in the south- 

 eastern United States. Caribbean, and western 

 Atlantic Ocean is the use of TEDs to minimize 

 drowning in commercial fisheries. Mature 



-- Funnel 



Finfish 

 deflector 



Deflector grid 



Finfisti opening 



Fig. 2a. Schematic of a turtle excluder device (TED). 

 From Watson et al. (1986). 



females should also be protected because of 

 their importance to future reproduction. 

 Researchers need to identify migratory routes, 

 feeding and developmental habitat, and ways to 

 minimize adverse impacts during all life-histo- 

 ry stages. 



References 



Bowen. B.. J.C. Avise. J.I. Richardson. A.B. Meylan. D. 

 Margaritoulis. and S.R. Hopkins-Murphy. 1993. 

 Population structure of loggerhead turtles (Carettu caret- 

 la) in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean and 

 Mediterranean Sea. Conserxation Biology 7:834-844. 



Bowen. B.W.. A.B. Meylan. J.P. Ross. C.J. Limpus, G.H. 

 Balazs, and J.C. Avise. 1992. Global population structure 

 and natural history of the green turtle iCIieloiiia mydas) 

 in terms of matriarchal phvlogenv. Evolution 46:865- 

 881. 



Crouse. D.T.. L.B. Crowder. and H. Caswell. 1987. A stage- 

 based population model for loggerhead sea turtles and 

 miplications for conservation. Ecology 68:1412-1423. 



Doughty. R.W. 1984. Sea turtles in Te.xas; a forgotten com- 

 merce. Southwestern Historical Quarterly 88:43-70. 



Ehrhart. L.H.. W.E. Redfoot, R.D. Owen, and S.A. Johnson. 

 1993. Studies of marine turtle nesting beach productivity 

 in central and south Brevard County. Florida, in 1993. 

 Report to Florida Department of Environmental 

 Protection. Institute of Manne Research. St. Petersburg. 

 20 pp. 



Henwood, T., W. Stuntz. and N. Thompson. 1992. 

 Evaluation of U.S. turtle protective measures under exist- 

 ing TED regulations, including estimates of shrimp 

 trawler related mortality in the wider Caribbean. 

 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Tech. 

 Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-303. 15 pp. 



National Research Council. 1990. Decline of the sea turtles. 

 Causes and prevention. National Academy Press, 

 Washington. DC. 259 pp. 



Ross. J. P.. S. Beavers. D. Mundell, and M. Airlh-Kindree. 

 1989. The status of Kemp's ridley. Center for Marine 

 Conservation. Washington. DC. 5 1 pp. 



Watson. J.W., J.F. Mitchell, and A.K. Shah. 1986. Trawling 

 efficiency device: a new concept for selective shrimp 

 trawling gear. Marine Fisheries Review 48:1-9. 



Atlantic 

 Ocean 



30 



25 



■° 20 



^ 15 



Gulf ^M 



m 



— Hflexico ^ 



§ 



o o o o 



TEDs 



No TEDs 



Fig. 2b. Incidental capture of sea 

 turtles in inshore and offshore 

 waters of the United States before 

 and after regulations requiring the 

 use of TEDs on the U.S. shrimp 

 fleet. From Henwood et al. (1992). 



For further information: 



C. Kenneth Dodd. Jr 



National Biological Service 



Southeastern Biological Science 



Center 



7920N.W. 7P'St. 



Gainesville. PL 32653 



