In the Northern Mariana Islands
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THE TRADITIONAL AND CEREMONIAL USE OF THE GREEN TURTLE (Chelonia mydas) IN THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS with recommendations for ITS USE IN CULTURAL EVENTS AND EDUCATION A Report prepared for the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council and the University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program by Mike A. McCoy Kailua-Kona, Hawaii December, 1997 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...........................................................................................................................4 PREFACE......................................................................................................................................................8 1. INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................9 1.1 BACKGROUND ......................................................................................................................................9 1.2 TERMS OF REFERENCE AND METHODOLOGY ............................................................................10 1.3 DISCUSSION OF DEFINITIONS .........................................................................................................11 2. GREEN TURTLES, ISLANDS AND PEOPLE OF THE NORTHERN MARIANAS ...................12 2.1 SUMMARY OF GREEN TURTLE BIOLOGY.....................................................................................12 2.2 DESCRIPTION OF THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS ............................................................14 2.3 SOME RELEVANT SOCIAL PROBLEMS, ATTITUDES AND PRACTICES ...................................17 2.4 PERCEPTIONS OF TURTLE ABUNDANCE ......................................................................................20 3. THE HISTORICAL RECORD: SOURCES AND SUMMARY........................................................21 3.1 ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE.......................................................................................................21 3.2 EARLY CONTACT AND THE SPANISH PERIOD..............................................................................22 3.3 GERMAN PERIOD................................................................................................................................27 3.4 JAPANESE ADMINISTRATION PERIOD ..........................................................................................29 3.5 U.S. ADMINISTRATION PERIOD.......................................................................................................32 3.6 THE GREEN SEA TURTLE IN EXISTING ORAL TRADITION........................................................36 3.7 IMPLICATIONS OF THE HISTORICAL RECORD ............................................................................39 4. BIOLOGICAL STATUS OF TURTLES IN THE NORTHERN MARIANAS TODAY ................40 4.2 TINIAN ..................................................................................................................................................42 4.3 SAIPAN..................................................................................................................................................43 4.4 ROTA .....................................................................................................................................................44 4.5 NORTHERN ISLANDS.........................................................................................................................45 5. LOSS OF TURTLE HABITAT ............................................................................................................45 6. INTERACTION BETWEEN PEOPLE AND TURTLES TODAY...................................................46 6.1 POACHING............................................................................................................................................47 7. POTENTIAL FOR SEEKING A LIMITED TAKE FOR CEREMONIAL PURPOSES..............49 7.1 POTENTIAL FOR DELISTING ............................................................................................................49 7.2 APPLICATION FOR A LIMITED TAKE .............................................................................................50 7.3 POTENTIAL ROLE OF CULTURAL EVENTS IN SEA TURTLE CONSERVATION ......................52 7.4 INVOLVEMENT OF RESIDENTS IN TURTLE CONSERVATION AND RESEARCH ...................53 8. SEA TURTLE EDUCATIONAL PLAN FOR THE NORTHERN MARIANAS ............................57 8.1 BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................................................57 8.2 RATIONALE FOR A SEA TURTLE EDUCATIONAL PLAN ............................................................57 8.3 OBJECTIVES OF A SEA TURTLE EDUCATIONAL PLAN ..............................................................58 8.4 OTHER CONSIDERATIONS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN EDUCATIONAL PLAN...............58 8.5 ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION IN THE SCHOOLS .....................................................................59 8.6 SEA TURTLE ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION IN THE COMMUNITY ......................................61 8.7 COORDINATION OF RESEARCH AND EDUCATION......................................................................63 9. BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES (SELECTIVELY ANNOTATED).................................64 2 APPENDIX 1. LIST OF CONTACTS ....................................................................................................74 APPENDIX 2. EXCERPTS FROM THE DRAFT RECOVERY PLAN (OCTOBER, 1995) FOR U.S. PACIFIC POPULATIONS OF THE GREEN TURTLE ............................................76 APPENDIX 3. SOURCES OF INFORMATION ON PAST AND CONTEMPORARY USE OF SEA TURTLES BY COMMUNITIES IN THE CAROLINE ISLANDS ........................................80 APPENDIX 4. OUTLINE OF POSSIBLE CEREMONIAL USE AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM..................................................................................................................................................82 APPENDIX 5. IMPORTANT RESOURCES FOR EDUCATORS......................................................84 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Worldwide conservation Green turtles are classified as “endangered” by the World status of the green turtle Conservation Union. They are listed in Appendix I of the CITES convention banning trade in endangered species. The US Endangered Species Act lists the species as threatened, with the breeding colonies in Florida and on the Pacific coast of Mexico as endangered. Important biological Both mature and immature turtles are found in the Northern considerations for green Mariana Islands. From studies elsewhere, sexual maturity is turtles in the Northern thought to take 25 years or more. Nesting occurs on multiple- Mariana Islands year intervals. Very little is known about natural mortality or survivorship in North Pacific populations. The extent of the population of turtles in the Northern Marianas, or if they represent more than one population, is unknown. While it is known turtles migrate to and from nesting beaches, little is known about migratory patterns involving turtles in the Northern Marianas. One tagged at Tinian was found in the Philippines in 1995. Although foraging turtles are present, nesting is not known to occur in the northern islands of Anatahan and beyond. The very limited amount of research on turtles in the Northern Marianas makes it impossible to estimate turtle population. Legal and administrative Regulations promulgated in 1978 allowed residents of the then changes to the status of Mariana District of the Trust Territory to take green turtles for turtles in the Northern personal use if customary, traditional and necessary for Mariana Islands under the sustenance, a “subsistence use”, as part of an overall Endangered Species Act, exemption under the Endangered Species Act given to the 1973 Trust Territory. NMFS undertook a comprehensive review in 1984, concluding that that the exception could not be substantiated for the Northern Marianas. The exemption was automatically removed with the dissolution of the Trust Territory in 1986. In 1994 the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council was asked by a specific indigenous group in the Northern Marianas to consider a request for their cultural and ceremonial use of a certain number of turtles, citing a lack of research prior to the 1984 determination. The request, repeated in 1996, is for a limited take for ceremonial purposes and not for a reinstatement of the subsistence exemption. 4 Motivation for requesting a Northern Marianas society has undergone large and often cultural use of turtles stressful changes in the recent past. Leaders of (mainly) the Carolinian community feel that greater cultural pride needs to be instilled, particularly in the youth, many of whom have little understanding or appreciation for their heritage. Since the utilization of turtles as a food source has been a part of their society in the past, it is felt that ceremonial use of turtles today would be a means to underscore the unique qualities of their culture. Archaeological evidence of The evidence is sketchy and incomplete. One site on Rota past use of turtles shows utilization of turtles more than two thousand years ago. Historical references to the The Spanish era records several ceremonial uses of turtle use of turtles in the Northern shell, including possible use as a medium of exchange. The Marianas latter could have been turtle shell items brought from the Caroline Islands by voyagers who visited and later colonized Saipan while