CnpLoNrANCoxsERvATIoN AND Btolocy InternationalJournal of Turtle and TortoiseResearch

Wtlunre6, Number2 - Decenber2007

CONTENTS Articles Abundance.Population Structure, and Conservation of Kinostenlotlscorpioides albogularc on the CaribbeanIsland of SanAndfs. Colombia. GERMANFORERo-MED]NA. OLGA VrcroRlA CAsrANo-MoRA. AND OLGA MoNTENEGRo ...... 163 Conser.rationStralegies and Emer-sentDiseasesi The Case of Upper Respimtory Tract Diseasein the Gopher Tortoise. EARLD. Mccoy. HENRYR. MusHrNsKy.AND JONATHAN LTNDZEY ...... ,...... 170 EtTect of Substrateon SelectedTemperuture in Juvenile Spiny Softshell Tufiles (Apcllotxaspinifbra).

A ComprehensiveOveliew of the Population and ConservationStatus of Sea Tutdes in . Srvo^-KrN-Furc CHer. I-Jlur,rxCusNc. TrNc ZHou. Hue-Jm WANG. HE-XhNG Gu. ero Xno-Jux SoNc...... 185 Effects of Human Settlementson Abundanceof Podocnemisunifilis and P expansaTurtles in NonheastemBolivia.

Responseof Nesting Sea Trutles to Barrier lsland Dynamics. MARGARETM. LAMoNTAND RAyMoND R. Cerrsv ...-..-...... -,...-...... 206 A New Subspeciesof the SnakeneckTurlle Chelotlina mctordi fiom Timor-Leste (East Timor) (Testudines:Chelidaet. Ger

Laparoscopl' of Nesting Hawksbill T\lrtles, Et?tnlochells inxbricata. at Milmau lsland. Nothem Great Barrier Reef. Australia. Knsrr- A. Doees.JerFRev D. MILLER.AND ANDRE M. LANDRyJn...... 2'70

(continued on next page)

Cover: A new subspeciesof snake-necked chelid turtle (genus Chelodina) from eastern Timor-I-este (East Timor), is described in this issue by Kuchling. Rhodin. Ibarrondo, and Trainor (pp.213-222). (Photos b]' GErulo KucHr-ulc [top] and BoNc;c;rR. IsaRnoNDo[bottom]).

b-- a

'' ct'z'lt"'li"'iiii;:'iL:i:,,i:lli'f..3:,:l;;:]ll,ll'il rri5res , A ComprehensiveOverview of the Population and ConservationStatus of Sea Turtles in China

Srrrox Ktx-Frrxc Csnx', I-Jruxn-CHENG], Trtc Zuor-t3,Hue-JrE Waxca, Hs-XraxG Gu3,rxn Xrno-Jt'r Soxc'-

lAgric'Ltltttre.Fisherie'sttnc|Consen,tttioltDepctrttnettI,7/F,C'hett

I kl clnrt @ n.fcd. got'.ltk ] : 2lnstitttte o.f'Mctr"ineBiologr, lVrttirtrtcrlTttitrurt Ocean lirtit,er,sirr'.Kceltotg, Tcritr,tut,Chintt Ib0 [email protected]]; ''Gctngkou Sea Turtle NtLriortcrlNrtrrrt' Resart'e, HLitlorrg,, Cltinct Itirtg:[email protected]]; ,o,',,,,.,ctnclFi'sherie.sEttl,irltutten|Mrlnitrlt.itt'QCentc

I trut r ttllj I <',,tt (r I()tn.('( )ilt l ; ''Soutlt Chittct Irtstitrtta Ior EtrclcutgcrcrlArtirttuls, Guattg-ltou. Chinu [.riuojurt-.trut,[email protected]'ont]

AssrRlcr. - Five speciesof seaturtles, including leatherback (Derntochelyscoriacea)' loggerhead (Caretta caretta), green (Chelonia ntydas), hawksbill (Eretmochelysintbricata), and olive ridlel' turtles (Lepidochelysolivaceo), were found in the waters east and south of mainland China and the associated islands. Decades of harvesting and habitat degradation have led to a drastic decline in the sea turtle population in the last century. Manr, foraging grounds and nesting sites have been degraded or have disappearedas a result of human activities.Nowadays, there are onll' a few nesting sitesand evenfewer foraging grounds for seaturtles in China. Fishery'bycatch is also believed to have been a major cause of sea turtle ntortality' in recent years. There is an urgent need for more efforts to be focused on the conservation of sea turtles in the region. However, limited information is available, which has impeded the formulation of effective conservation lneasures. The goal of this paper is to provide an overvieu' on the current population and conservation status of sea turtles, as well as recommendationsfor their effective management in China.

Ksv Wonts. - Dermochelyidae; Cheloniidae; Caretta carettal Chelonia ntydas; Demtochelys coriaceal Eretmochelys imbricata; Lepidochelys olivacea; sea turtle; China; conservation; population status; nesting site; foraging ground.

The People'sRepublic of Chir-rahas a total marine turtles in China was not mentioned.Mistakes. due to ateaof over'4"700.000 kml and a coastlineof 32.000krn. translation.have also been found in publishedmaterials The mainland is sunoundedbl, 4 seasin the western about sea turtles in China. For exarnple.lo_t-eerhead PacificOcean: the inlandBohai, tlre Yellow Sea.the East turtles (Carettcrc'orettu) are onlv known to nest in the China Sea.and tire lar-eest.South China Sea.Except for Xisha Archipelago(Paracel Islands) of Chir-ra(Ou1,ar-r_e et Bohai. which has an annual sea temperatureof 0o to al. 1992: Chen-e2000c). while Limpus and Lin-rpus 21"C. tl-reYellou'. EastChina, and SouthChina seasare (2003)havequoted tirat this speciesnests along the coast relativelywanrler, u,ith watertempelatures ralrginc from of rrrainlandChina: this was probat'llvdue to ntisinter'- 1-5' to ?8'C" and thet, support a large number of pretationof the sourceinfonnation. subtropicaland tropicalmarine organisms. including the Sea turtles are rnisratorv species.and successful onceabundant but now endangeredsea tuftles. Due to the conservationmeasures cannot be accornplishedwitl-rout difficulties to conduct sea turtle research. lirnited the existenceof a tight-lc-ritspirit of coopelarionarnons infonnation is availableon sea turtles in China. Most the concentedparties at the nesting sites. along the sea turtle researchhas been restrictedto particularaleas mieratoryroutes, and in the foragin_tgrounds. lnfonnation or nestiu-9sites but a comprehensiveover'\,iew on the exchange.technical supporl. and cooperativeresearch are existin-epopulation and conservationstatus of seaturlles all needed.between qovemfirentaeencies. internatior-ral in China is lacking. h addition.rlost of the relevant communities.and researchinstitutions, to enhancesea articleshave been publishedin Chinese.which makes turlleconservatiorr. It is obviousthat these deficiencies are accessand interpretationof relevantinfotmation difficult the malor obstaclesblocking the conseruationof seaturtles for the international communitv. For example. Shanker on botlr a regionaland global scale.This paperplovides an and Pilcher (2003) made a recent assessff)enton marine oven'iew of the existing population and conservatiou turtle conservation in South and Southeast Asia. statusof seaturlles in China.It is our"feruent hope that this However, due to an appareltt lack of applopriate will iriitiatemore holistic conservationeffolts to protect information in Enelish. the consen'ationstatus of sea seatuftles in China. 186 CuEloureNCoNsenva'uoN AND Biorocy, VolLune6, Nuntber2 - 2007

SEA TURTLE SPECIES AND THEIR coasralwarers of SouthChina. Zhu (2002) sug-eestedthat GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIB UTIONS log-eerheadturlles migrate frorn Xisha Archipela_eoand the South China Sea to the northern watel.s.presumably Five species of sea tuftles occur in china" ir-rcrucling seeking for fbod. by followin-e the walm asce'cling lo-e-eerheads. (,C -ereenturtle s lt eI o n i a n.n,clct,s ). lezrtherbacks cunents.within china. lo_e_eerheadturtles are only known (De nnocltelvs crtr'rtcerz). ( hawksbills Eretnutchelt'sinfuri- to nest in the Xisha Archipela,eoin the South china Sea cutu). and olive ridleys (Lepicltcltelt,solit'ctcer). They are (Ouyanget al. 1992;Chen_s 2000c). alt listed as critically Endangereclin the cl-rina Species Chelonict rttt,clus.- The green tur-tleis the most Red List (AnonymoLrs. 2004). It is estimated that sea common and abundantof seatufiles tound in china. Their turtles are most abundant in the South China Sea. distribution ranges fiom Liaonin_ein the north. past h-rvestigatiorrsconducted along the coast. fiorn Bohai in Taiwan. to rhe BeibLrGulf in the South China Sea. nofthem China ro Niinsha Archipela_eo(Spratly Islands) in Existin-qnesting sites are only locatedin a few subtropicai the Sourtl-rChina sea. have ir-rdicateclthat therr is an or tropicalbeaches in Guangdongand raiwan as well as increasins trencl in both the nLrmbersancl abunclance of severalsites in the Dongsha(pratiis Islanci).Xisha. ancl species. tron-rthe nor-thto the south. The water.sancl islancls Nansha archipela-eosin rhe Sourh china Sea. All lif'e in the So.rth china Sea have been consiclereclas the rnajor stasescan be fbLrndin the watersof China (Frazieret al. fbraging .nd nestins grouncls tbr se' tuftles in china. 1988).Accordi'e to Frazierer al. (1988),the speciesis particr-rlarlyrhe Nansha trnd Xisha Alchipelagos (Huan,u most abundantin the southernwaters of china and nearly r9r9^: wang r9g0:Lian_e et al. r990:wan_e 1993: cher_r_q 80vo of the turtlescaptured durin_e a survey in the south 1995b.19961. Accorciin_u to Liang et (1990). al. aboutg}ch china Seacame tiom the watersof HainanIsland anclthe of seatuftles in china are founcl in the Southchina Sea. Xisha Archipela-eo.The rernainin-qtuftles were captured Basedon historicalciatar of clirectharvest durin_sthe periocl l}om Gurangdon_qar-rd Fujian. Tan anclHuang (l9Bg) also fr-om 1959 ro 1988. the size of this popularionwas reporled that the green turtle is most abundant in the estirnatedro be abor-rr16.900 to 46.300.The esrimarecl watersotf Grlan-edongand Island, whereasolive proportionof each specieswas gJTo approximately for ridley and loggerheadrurlles are otien fbund in Fujian. turtles.l0% for hawksbillrur-tles, -sreen andthe remainin_s Eretntocheltsimbricatu. - The hawksbiil turtle is a 37c tor leatherback.log-qerheacl. anclorive riclley turtles. commonspecies in china. It can be fbund in the yellow. combined. Eastchina, andSouth china seas.ransing from the waters Based on ir-rtbrmationtj-orn fishery bycatch ancl off Shandon,eto the Beibu Gulf. Most recordsof live strandingsfbr nestingand nonnestin_especies. as well as si-ehtin-esand strandinsswere subadurtsfrorn the East recordstbr the nestine.species, the _seo,sraphicclistribution China and Sor-rrhChina Seas (Frazier er al. lggg). of each species is obtained and clescribedfiom the Hawksbill turtlesare known to nest in the Dongshaancl tbllowi'-e solrrces(wan-e 1966:Anonvmous 1975: Huang Nansharirrchipelagos (Cheng 1996, 2000c). 1919a.1919b: Di'g et .1. 1980;Zhao and Huang l9g2: LepitlocltelvsoIivctcen. - The olive riclleyturlle is an Zhou 1983;Wen 1984;Zheng 1985:Zong 19g6,Huang uncommon speciesin china. It can be found in the and Zhu 1987:Frazier et al. 1988: Huanget rl. l99l; Yellow. East china. and south china seas.Both adults Nishimura and Nak.hi_s.shi1992, Hr,ra yin ancl 1993: and subadultshave beenrecorclecl (Frazier et al. lggg). Clreng199-5c, 1991 . 1998b,2000c: Cheng .nd Chen l99i: Accordin-eto Frazieret al. (1988),olive riclleyturlles occllr Zhang et al. 1998;Lr_r et al. 1999,Jian_e er al. 2000; Li more treqLrentlvin the watersoff Fujian than off Hainan 2000; Songet al. 2002a;Zhor-r and Chen1002. Cl-ran2004: Island, Guan,sdon-e,or Zhejian-e.olive ridley tur-tlesare AFCD 2005; GSTNNR 2005t. and as diagrammatically not known ro nestin China (Chen_e1991). shownin Fig. l. A detailedlist of the localitiesof the si_ehtingand Dennoc'helt,scorittcea. While an Llncommon nestin-grecords of seatuftles in china in both chinese and speciesin china. the leatherback rr,rrtleis distributecl English areavailable upon requestfiorn the correspondine throushoutthe watersof cliina. The leatherbarckturtle is a author. pelagicspecies, spencling mosr of its lif-ein the otfshore waters.Both adr-rltsand subadultscan be tbuncl in china HABITAT STATUS (Frazieret al. 1988).Leatherback turtles are not known to nestin China(Chene 1997). Currently Known Nesting Sites Carettcrc(LrettcL. - The loggerheacltur-tle is also an Llncornmonspecies in china. while both aciults ancl Only green. lo_egerhead.and hawksbill turtles are sr-rbadr"rltsare present. sr,rbadults seem to occLrr lrlore known to nest in China (Cheng 1991).The nestin_esires tiequently (Frazieret al.. 1988). Lo-u_eerheaclturrles are are locatedin the subtropicaland tropical beacheson the distributedthror-r,9hor-rt tl-re waters of china. Frazier et al. mainland and associatedislands. Historical records 11988)observed tl-rat there were more at seasightings of indicatethat sreen tunles used to nest in a number of log-eerheadtr-rrrles in FLrjian(pin_etan Island.in particular-) sitesalong the coast tiom Fujianto rheBeibu Gulf. as well durirrg a slnvey conductedin the FLrlianand G.ran_eclong as someoffshore islands in the sor.rthchina sea.However" CunNer AL. - Population and Consen,ation Status of Sea Turlles t81 , 105,,' 110,, 115,' 120,' 125,' 130" 135"

Leqends 40" { Sighting Record : \ C LeatherbackTurtle orea fl toggernead Turtte -' 35" * Gr""n Turtle trdo* -/ _/ *-.{ll? N-p \[ ' o ,d. \{z^' @ HawksbillTurtle ' 3/ i,tapan *r China ?s,y. Oliu" Ridley Turile ol 30" Nesting Site : I LoggerheadTurtle Gr""n Turtle 25" 0 * HawksbillTurtle

2(1"

15,,

10,,

5"

Figure 1. The distributionof seatufiles in China.

most of these sites do not exist due to habitat loss or turlle nestin_ssite in tlre ntainland. The Gar-rgkounestins de-eradation or tur-tles lto longer nest there over the past beach has an area of ().I krnr but the total area of the natul-e f-ew decades (Fraziel et al. 1988: Jiang er al. 2000). reserue.including the nesting treach and tlre sunoundin_r Nou,adays, nestin-pgreen turtles are only found in a fer.l, waters, is about 18 kn-rt (Jian-eet a1..2000). According to sites on the rnainland. in Taiwan and in the Dongsha. l-ristoricalrecords. decades ago. sea turtles used to nest ;r.) Xisha. and Nansha archipela_eosir-r the South China Sea. rnany remote beachesin Hong Kong. However. due to the On the other hand. log-eerheadand hawl

( 2000c). Frazier et al. 1988) seemedto have evidence that and coral reef-sare also f'oLrndin Qionghai and Sanya. and the nesting population of green turlles in Xisha Archipel- may provide suitable t-eeding gror-rnds tor green lnd ago was large.although no detailedstLrdies irave ever been harwksbillturtles (Frazier er al. 1988). condr"rcted.so f'ar. Of the 3 nestin_especies. qreen tur-tles TtLivvtut.- The foraging grounds inclr.rdethe coastal zirethe most abundant in Xisha Archipelago (AnonyrloLls, wirtersoff Taiwan (Cheng et al. 2000). Green. lo_egerhead, 1975) hawksbill and olive ridley turtles have been found there (Cheng and Chen 1997\. Satellite telemetry showed that Currently Known Foraging Grounds the fora-ein-sgrounds of adult green tuftles that nested at Wan-an Island inch-rded the coastal waters otf northem Very lrttle is known abourtthe forarging-erounds of sea Taiwan. Nanao Islancl. Huidong. Hong Kong, Dongsha tr-rrtlesin China. The fbllowin-s section describes the Archipela-eo. H:iinan Island. east coast of Leizhou grounds cunently known toragin_u and also identifies Peninsula, northern Philippines. RyLrkyLr Archipelago, potential ones. and Koshiki in southem Japan (Cl-rene 2000a, 2000b: MainLtuul (1988) China Coast. Frazier er al. Cheng et al. 2000). Sirnilarly. satellite telemetly showed su_q_gestedthat there is little t'eeding green habitat for and that one tbraging site fbr adLrltgreen turtles that nested on hawksbill turtles along the coast of Fujian ancl Guan_qdong, Lanyr-r Island is located around the coral reefs in the due to the lack of nealshore waters. However. waters the southem Penghu Archipelago. north of Chimei Island (I.J. suruoundingNanao Island and Dongsl-ranIsland. between Cheng, Lrnpubl. data. 1991). In addition. coastal fisl-rery Guangdon-e and FLrjian. were reportecl to be impor-tant bycatch showed that the coral reets in the Pen_ehuwaters tora-einggrounds for sea tuftles. including green. hawks- act as foraging grounds fbr jLrvenile and subadult green bill. olive ridley, and leatherback tunles (Xr-r ancl Zheng and hawksbill tLutles.Sr-rbaclult olive ridlei, and lo_s-serhead 2000). The coastal waters off Gr-rangclon_u,and in tuftles have also been infrecluently recorded in this re_sion particular. the waters around oftshore islands. such as (Chen et al. 2004). Tag_eedlog_eerhead turtles. recovered the Wanshan Archipelago. Shangchuan Island, Xiachuan from frshery bycatch. showed that the East China Sea ernd Island. Donghai Island. and the Qion_qzhouGulf of the the coastal waters off Japan are fbragiri-q _grounds for Leizhor-rPeninsLrla. are also potential foraging _eroundsfor loggerhead tur-tlesnestin_q in Japan (Sato et al. 1991). gfeen tuftles. Satellite telemetry seems to support the Sr,ttLthChina Sea. - Satellite telemetry has shown that above conclusions (Cheng 2000a. 2000b: Song er al. the foragin_9 of adult green tufiles. nesting on 2002b: Chan et al. 2003: Chan 2004). Other potential _erounds Taipin lsland of the Nansha Archipela-uo" are mainly foragin-ugrounds fbr sea tufiles on the mainland may occLrr located in the coastal waters off Paliiwan Island. alon-q the coastal waters where sea turtles, in particular Philippines, the nofth coast of eastem Malaysia. and the jr-rveniles or subadults, have been liequently captured or east coast of Luzon Island. Philippines (Cheng 2003, sighted. and where sLritablehabitats, such as coral reefi 2001). Nlany of these foraging grounds. especially and seagrasspastures ilre present. These sites include the Palawan Island and eurstem Malaysia, are shared with inshore waters of Qin_edao in Shandolg (Wan*e 1915), those turtlesnestins in westem (Liew Pin_qtanIsland and Dongshan Islanci in Fujian (Zhen_e _qleen Malaysia et al. 1995). In 1994. recaptLlre 1985); the shzillowotfshore watersof Jiangsu (Zhou 1983: repofts fr-om the conventional Zong 1986); Guiling Island and the sun'oundins waters lnconel tags showed that I green turtle, which nested at (Liang et al. 2000); and Shanwei in Guangdon_e(AFCD Wan-an Island, was louncl in the northem Philippines 2005). Lr-rsiin Jiangsu may also be ar suitable foraging lChen_e 2000a). The waters of the Don_qshaand Xisha Archipelagos host sr-rbstantialseasrass pastures _groundbecause Hua and Yin (1993) reporled that. durins and coral the jellyfish reproduction season in autumn. leatherback reef-s (Lin 2001; Li et al. 2004). These habitats may tuftles were observed f-eedingon jellyfish in the waters of provide suitable tbraging grounds tor sea turtles. Also. LLrsi; tishermen cau_eht7 leatherback turtles there in the Hamann et al. (2006) reporled that loggerhead turtles use auturrn of 1982. The continental shelves of the South the Sor-rthChina Sea as toraging habitat. Srres.- Dao Bach Long Vi China Sea are also considered as tbra_ein_e_elounds for Other is a srnall offshore log_eerheadturtles nestir-rgin Japan. Hatase et al. (2002) island within the territorial waters of Vietnam in the Beibu reported that 3 log_eerheardturtles nested at Minabe of Gulf. A postnesting green tuftle from Hon_e Kong was Japan rnigrated to the neritic par-rof the East China Sea. reporled as aruivin-9at Dao Bach Long Vi (Chan 2004). [t Furlher evidence was given by the repoft that a loggerhead is possible that the waters around the island are the tur-tle tagged in Japan was recaptured in Vietnam (Sado- fora-eing gror-rnd tor a subset of _greenturtles from the yama et al. 19961. rookery in Hon-q Kon_e.One postnesting steen tur1le tiorn Haincut Islturcl. - Satellite telemetr,v l-ras indicated Wan-an Island and another from Gangkou Sea Tr.nlle that the southem coastal waters of Hriinan Island. in National Nature Reserve were found to spend time in the pafticr-rlar the shallow waters near Wanning and Wen- nearshorewaters of Okinawa Island. Japan (Cheng 2000a; chan_9,are potential toraging ,grounds for _9reenturlles Son_9et al. 2002b). Seagrassbeds exist in the r-rortheastern (Cheng 2000a, 2000b; Chan et al. 2003). Sea_erasspastLrres waters of Okinawa Island and the alea is known as a CnaxEr .Ar_.--- Population ar-rdConservation Statr-rsof SeaTurtles l8g , 10i,, 110,, 115,, 120,, I 25,, 130,, 135,' Leqends

NestingSite: O Lammalsland O nuiaong 35'' lD Wan-anlsland ( @ Lunyulsland \ Japan .\\ i I taipin tstand J ry1- 30,' : Post-nestingMigration 7- 6 End Points of Sea Turfles i@ Trackedfrom: 25,, O Lurnru lsland @ nrioong @ Wrn-"n lsland z(jl" @ t"ny, lsland @ t"ipin lstand

15,,

Figure 2. Postnestin-1.rnigration.enci poirrts of seatuftles trackeci fi'om their respective ne sting sites in theSor,rth China Sea. The o]'r-rtigratronilj^".fin:9 enci- P9!! asthe Io-ig...{tLu-tle berng.stayecl in the vicinitv of tlrelast positioir ou.'- on.rn"'riiiicir.r!zOOou. 2000b. l0()7:Son_r el al.2002b:Chan et at.2-003;Chan 2004i.'

fora_eing sround for green turtles (KikLrkawaet al. 1996: were also f'ewer numbers of green and log_eerheacltufiles Anon1,116us 2002b). caught from fisher1' bycatch i1 recent vears. and the ? Figure shou'sthe postnestingmigration end points rrumber of leatherbacl,..hawksbill. and olive ridley turlles of sea tur-tlestracked b1,'satellites fl'om tlreir respective was also rapidll, decreasin_q(Zhepg l9B_5).All of the nestingsites in the SourhChina Sea (Cheng 2000a. 2000b, above evidence suggeststhat the sea turtles in China have 2007 Song et al. 2002b:Chan et al. 2003:Chan 2004). suffered fi'om ovelexploitation. Sl,stematic sul'\/evsof tlre nestin_epopulation have STATUS AND TREND OF SEA TURTLES been caried out at 4 sites. with the qreen turtle being the onlv nesting species identified so fhr. These sites are Accordin_gto l,iang et al. (1990).rhe popularion size Gan-ekouSea Tur-tleNational Nature Reserve since l9g5 of-sea tr,rfiles in the Soutl-rchina Seau,as estirnatecl to be (Jiang et al. 2000; GSTNNR 200-5).Lamma Islancl since about 16.800to 46.300 in rhe 1980s.inclucling about 10 14.000to 40.000 sea rufiles in the Xisha anclNansha Archipelagos.2300 to 5500 in rl-recoasral warers off Guarrgdons.Hainan Island and Dongsha Arcl-ripelago. and 500 to 800 in the BeibLrGulf'. Frorn the anriualt,ielcl of sea at, tunlesharvested directly by hslrenlenin the Southchina Seafi'oni 1959to 1988.Liang er al. (1990)esrimarecl rhar (! .oo o over 31 1.. .800 seaturtles were slaushtered durin,s the period .t. ; t.oi (thentean body weightof harvestedtur-tles \\,as assulled to be 100 k_eper turtle).That is. on average.well over.1000 J1 sea turlles were killed each vear. There existed an fog,o(total yields) = 34.372- 0.0164(year) exponentialdecrease in sea turtle han'esffr-ont 1959 to D=30,r=0.401,p=0.029 1988(Fi_e. 3). Furthemrore.Wang (1980)repoftecl that the 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 size (in straight carapacelength. SCL) of loggerhead Year tur-tlescau-9ht in the coastal waters of Shandon-s\ /as Figure 3. The smallerin the 1980s(SCL - -50to 80 cr.r-r)w,hen compared annual1,ield of seaturtles haryestecl br, fisirenren in the Southchina Seat'o'r 19-59to 19ggtliang et al. l9g0). to thosein the early 1960s(SCL - 90 cm).In Fujian.rhere The Y-axis is on los-scale. r90 Cupt-crNt.qNCoNsEnvrrroN AND Brolocv. Volmne 6, Nwnber 2 - 2007

aD al) i-i

a Z

l93i r()Sn 1,,8- I,)\\ l1)\\) l()()il lr)91 199.1 199-i 1996 1997 l9r)8 l9r,)r):(X)0 100 I l00l 1003 1004 1005

Figure 4. The total numberof e-egsprodr-rcecl by nestinggreen tLrrtles at GangkouSea Tutle National NatureReserve tiom 1985 to 200-s(GSTNNR 100-5).

1997 (Chan 2004; AFCD 2005). Lanylr Island since 199J. rangin_qtiom 5 to 13 femiiles per season.There are ? and Wtrn-an Island since 1992 (Cheng 2003). Some nestingbeirches on the island;one facesthe Pacific Ocean discontinLred nesting dati-r were also available fiorn the irndthe otherfaces eastem Taiwan. No refugesite has been nesting sites at the Donssha, Nansha. and Xisha establishedon this island. Data on annual nesting archipela-eos(Chen,s t995b. 1996, 1991.2000c, 2007). abundancefrom 1991 to 2005 shows substantialannual Data fiom these nestillg sites inclicatethat existing nesring variation(Fig. 6) (Cheng2002; I.J. Cheng,unpubl. data. popLrlationsin China (includins green. loggerhead. and 2005). hawksbill tLrrtles)are very small. Soutlt Cltina Seu.- Due to nationalsecurity reasons. long-termresearch on the islandsof the Don_esha,Nansha, Nesting Population Status and Xisha archipela_eoshas not been possible.Thr,rs, the nesting popr-rlationsin these regions could only be Mainlcurcl Cltirtu. According to Zhang (1992), estimated.On Taipin lsland of the NanshaArchipela-eo, aboLrt 400 _ereentufiles nested in Gangkor-r Sea TLu-tle it has been estimatedthat the nesting population ran-qes Niitional Nature Reserve every vear betbre the 1950s. from 30 to 64 f-emales(_ereen and hawksbill turtles) per From the 1950sto earlv 1980s.prior to the establishment year.with the peak nestingseasons lasted from June until of the natul'e reserve. approximately, 60 to 80 tuftles were Septemberand fiom November until February (Cheng slau-ehtereclevery yeLlr and nearly all the e_g-qswere 2007).On DongshaArchipelago, only a small rookeryof collected [or tood. The recruitments were serior-rsly hawksbills, with less than 10 females/year,was for"rnd in-rpactedby hr-rmanintervention. According to the nature (Cheng 1995b).This number was reconfirmedby the reserve'srecorcl (GSTNNR, 2005). the number of nestinss repofi of residentCoast Gr-rards in 2003, which recorded and eggs laid each yeiu ranged fl'orn I to 83 ancl l3l to only 4 tag,eedfemales. A 10-da;ufield trip, in the slrmmer 9766, respectively.prodr-rcing a total of over 75.000 e_ugs of 2004, did not find any nesrin_9acrivity (I.J. Cheng, trorn 665 nestsfrom 1985 to 2005. On averase.there were unpubl.data. 2004).The Xisha Archipelagois a major about 30 nests, with 3500 e_s_ss.bein_e laici each year. A nestingsite tor seatufiles in Chiner(Huan_q totiil of 125 nestinq turtles were tag_eeddLrring this period 1986;Liang et al. 1990:Wang 1993).Huzrn_s (1919a) (range: 1 to 20 tag-eedf-emziles/year). The number of eg.'s reporledthat over 1.100.000kg or about I I,100 sea tufiles(mostly green producec'lflr-rctuated _qreatly each year (Fig. .l). Limited datu have shown that each year the nurrber of turllesbr-rt also someloggerhead tr-u-tles) were caughttrom nesting turtles in Lamma Islanci ransed trom 0 to *5.From 1959to 1970within the watersof the XishaArchipela-uo, I99l to 2005. the total number of rrestswas 28 ancl the su-egestin-ethat therehad beena lar-qenesting population. estimated total number of esgs laid was abour 3000 Sr-nveyscondr-rcted in 1987and 1989 in Qilianyu of the (AFCD200s). XishaArchipelaso recorded a totalof 92 females(Liang et Tctivr;ttrt.- Wan-an Island of PenghLrArchipelago al. 1990). 'The hostsa small gl'eenturrtle rookery, with I to 19 temales statusof seaturlle nestingpoplrlations at various each year fi'orn 1992 to 1005 (Fi_s.,5:Chen and Cheng known sites in China are iisted in Table l. The data 1995:Wang and Cheng 1999:I.J. Chens.Lurpubl. data. su-q-qestthat the seatufile popLrlationin China is not large. 2005).LanyLr Islund also hosts a srnallqreen tr-rrtle rookery At sites.with relativelvsvstematic and lons-termnestins *- population cu.qNEr Ar.. and conservationStatus of SeaTurtles l9l

l{) l9 lii 17 Itl 15

a l-1 = t: r li €to zr :E zl fr 5 4

l I

Figure 5' Chan-eesin the number of nestin-e-qreen turtles in wan-an Island from 1992 to 2005 (I.J. cheng. unpubl.data, 200-5). records.such as Gangkou andwan-an lsland. no obvious estimatedthat l0 to 80 greentuftles were harvestedeach increasin-eor decreasingtrends are cliscemable. year in Gan_qkoudunng the 1950s(Lian,e er al. 1990). Green tur-tleswere also intensivell,fished ir-rthe Xisha THREATS Archipelago and most catches were done during the summer and autumn (Frazieret al. 1988). Direct beaclr Similar to the other species.the seatufiles in China harvestingfor meat was commonin easternTaiwan in the have faced serioushuman threatssince the last cenrury/. early1970s. especially alon.e the eastcoast, resulting The threats include direct harvestin-e.fishery bycatch. in the killing of most of the nesting green.rufiles habitatde-qradation, and pollurion (Chen_e1998b). there (I.J. Cheng.unpubl. dara, Direct Han,esting. In China. a considerable 1995). number of sea tufiles were slaughteredbefore they were Like the sreen rurrles.the popularior-rof hawksbill listedas protectedspecies in i988 (Liang et al. I 990: Zhao turtles in China suffe'ed from overharvestin_qand I998). Both the eggsand nesting tur-tles were hanrested for pollution, resulting in a sharp decline in recent decades consumptionfrom nestingsites such as Gangkouand the (Mao and zheng 2000). Nowadays.rhe direct harvestin_r Xisha Archipelago.In Gangkoualone, it hasbeen reported of sea turtles and eg-epoachin-e no lon_eerexists in the that 60.000 to 200,000eg-es of -ereenturlles were collected protectednesting sites. However, illegal capture of sea eachyear before (zhang the 19-50s 1992).Gravid females turtlesstill occursoccasionally and the exactextent of the were also slau-ehteredfor human consumptionand it was damaseto seaturlle populationsis unknown.

14

4a IU 12 11 10

!n = q6..? = a u z zo z5a- 4

2 1 0

Figure 6. Changesin the number of nestin-esreen tuftles in Lanyu Island from I 997 to 2005 (i.J.Cheng.r-rnpubl. data. 200-5). r92 CueroNtnNCoNsEnvrrroN AND BloLocv, Volunte6, lVuntber 2 - 2007

Table 1. The statLlsof nestir"t-ssea turtle popLrlationsat varioussites in China.

No. of No.of clutches Hatcl-ring Nestingsite species "1':?*r.t'x$ftt Crtrtchsize per season rate(Va) References

GangkouSea Tr,rrtle National -greentunle l-20 mean: i 13 mean : 5 34-r)6 GSTNNR (2005) NatureReserve. Hr"ridong Lamma Island,Hong Kon_e green tuftle 0-5 r03-1-52 l-8 40-90 AFCD (2005) Wan-an Island.PenqhLr green turtle 2-19 7O-15/+ 1-9 50-87 Cheng(1991),I.J. Cheng Archipelaeo (LrnpLrbl.data, 2005) Lanyu Island -9reenturtle )-tj 86-r52 I --+ 52-86 Cheng(1991); I.J. Cheng (unpr-rbl.data. 2005) DongshaArchipelago qreen tufile and ,t-10 no clata no data no clata Cheng(i995b); [.J. Cheng hawksbill turtle (unpLrbl.data, 2004) Taipin Island"Nansha green tLlrtle and 30-64 no data no data no data Chen_q(1991.2007) Archipelago hawksbill turtle Xisha Archipelir-eo _qreentllille 29-,53 26- 1:t8 no data no clata Huang (1986);Lian_s et al. loggerhead tLrrtle no data no clata no data no data (1990);Ouyang et al. (1992)lWan,q (1993): Cheng(2002)

Fisheries B,-catclt. - Several str-rdieshave identified destroy turtle nestin_9habitats and cause serious beach that tisheries bycatch is ii major threat to sea turtles erosion (Cheng 1995d; Huan_s2001). Both tourism worldwide (e.g. Heppell 1998; Hall et al. 2000; Heppell et developmentand sand mining have resr-rltedin a serious al. 2000: Hays et al. 2003: Lewison et al. 2004). Frazier et damage to many sea tuftle nestin_esites and fora_eing al. (1988) reported that except tor the green turtle. which ,qroundsin China.Xiachuan Island, in Guangdong,used to was fished directly, fisheries bycatch was the main soLlrce be a seaturtle nestingsite somedecades ago. However, it of morlality for all the other species of turtles in China. is likely that sea turtles no longer nest there becauseof Accordin-q to the record of the nature reselne in Huidon-e tourismdevelopment on the island(Liang et al. 1990). (GSTNNR 2005 ), sea turtles caught in gill nets and trawler Artificral li_ghtdiscoLlrages the nestin,etufiles trom nets from 2001 to 2005 included I 1 green tuflles, ,1 olive emergin-9and also createsan abnormal behavior in the ridleys. 2 leatherbacks.and 2 hawksbills. In addition, 5 nestin,eactivities (Hsien 2004). In addition. intensive _qreenturlles, I olive ridley. 1 lo_egerhead,and t hawksbill illumination at the back of the beachwill disorienrarerhe were tound stranded.on nearby beaches. also perhaps hatchlin_gs,preventing them fiom enterin_ethe sea, and killed as a result of bycatch. The actual number of seit increasethe mortality rate (Hsien 2004). [n rhe Dongsha tufiles, killed as a result of fisheries bycatch may even be Archipelago. studieshave su_egestedthat dynamite and hi-eher when the number of suspected unreported cases is poisonfishin-e as well as directharvesting may be the main taken into accor"rnt.Nishimllra and Nakahieashi (1990) reasonstor the small nesting population there. Besides, estimated thait Japaneseresearch ancl training vessels hacl beach security f-encesposed an additional threat to the incidentally captLrredover 21.200 tuftles, with 12.296 remainin_9nesting tuftles. Althou_ehmore rnarine patrols being killed. in the Western Pacific and South China Sea. have been conductedin this atoll to protect the marine Sato et al. ( 1997) reported that among 395 log-eerhead ecosystem.and most fenceshave been removedin recent tuftles tag-qed while nestin_eon Senri Beach in Japan years. the nestingpopulation has yet to recover (Chen_e between 1990 and 1995, 2 were capturedby trawler nets in 1995b).The recentincrease in the numberof small fishing the East China Sea and 7 were captllred by set-nets along vesselsr,rsing trawl netshas caused considerable damage to the coast of Japan. the benthichabitats in the watersof Guangxiand Nanaoin Set-net fisheries have been the main source of coastal Guangdon-e,tllrther threateninsthe survival of sea tufiles bycatch in Taiwan. A t-ewdecades aso. most tr-u1lescau,eht in this area(Yang and Lin 1999;Tan 2003). incidentally were slau-uhteredor sold for release in PoLLutiort.- The rapid developmentand population reli,uior-rsceremonies. Nowadays, these sea tufiles are growth in Chinahas released an ever-increasin_9amount of Lrsually released back into the sea at the scene. clLreto the polh-rtantsthat are eventuall)ienterin_g into the coastai enforcement of wildlit'e conservation laws by Coast ecosystems,leading to the disappearanceof the once Gr-rards(Cheng and Chen 1991, Cher-rg20021. However. highly diversemarine or_eanisms in many coastalwaters of it is apparent that the potential irnpact of bycatch on the China(Yr-r et al. 2000;Zhang 2003). Tan and Ding (2003) sea turtle populations of China cannot be underestirnated. reported that water pollution tiom reclamation and HabitcLt Degradcttiott. - In recent years. the rapid aquaculturehas bror.rghtabor-rt a serious irnpact on the coastal development in China has resulted in a serious marine ecosystem,car-rsing a sharpdecline in the number disturbance to the coastal marine environment. including of sea tuftles in the watersof Zhejiang.[n Sanya.Hainan the toraging and nesting habitats of sea turlles (Tan :rnd Island.the heavymetal levels were found to be increasing Ding 2003 Zhang 2003). Beach developrnenrs will in the coral reet-s,indicating the de.teriorationin water CH,cNEr AL. -- Population and Consenration Statr-rsof Sea Turtles 193

qualiry. which poseso iong-,.,',11potenrial rlrrear ro nrar-ine 2000b, 2001: Lai 2000: Jen 2001: Hsien 2004). In Hong life, includin-e sea tur-tles.in the area (Huang et al. 2003). Kong. a sea turlle couservatiou program was implernented Pollution. rnainly due to the discharges of Llntreated since 1991. The program inclr-rdes re_eularpatrols and dornestic sewage, has also occurrecl in Xisha Archipelago managetnent of nesting site. conventional tagging. mon- (Li et aL 20041. Solid debris. oil ard rar. or-qanochlori'e itoring of the nesting population. artificial incubation. residues. and heavv metais are the major pollutants toxicological stLrdies.satellite telernetry. and public threatenin-e the suruivorship of sea tuftres in the Mediter- education (Chan et al. 2003: Chan 2004: Lam er al. (Godle1, ranean Sea et aL. 1999). Thet, mav also play ar-r 2004.2006). A territory-wide survev was also conclucted irnportant role in the decline of sea turlle populations in to assess the status of green turtles in Hon_e Kon_e Japan (Sakai et al. 2000). In fact. otlier studies on hear,), (McGilvrav and Geermans 1997). metals and orsanochlorine residues in sea tunles have Cortsen,atiort crnclManogentent of Hnbitcrts. - In the found that the contaminant juvenire burdens are highest in mainland, the nestin_ebeach at Gangkou. Huidong is a anirnals, at levels causing subclinical toxic effects in otrrer national nature reselve. managed b_va dedicated manage- vertebrates(Godler, et al. 1999: McKenzre et al. 1999).An ment authority. Entry into the nestin_ebeach ancl the analysis of the trace element residuesin eggs and tissuesof adjacent waters is restricted. and a 24-hour patrol of the adult sreen tufiles fl"om Hong Kon-e found that trre levels beach is can'ied out durin-t tlre nestilrg season. to protect of heavy metals such as Hg and Cd were relatively low in the nestin_ctuftles. In addition. the leserve's management the tissues. However. Se and Ni were found to pose a authority works together with the fisheries management potential health risk to eggs and hatchlir-rgs(Larn et al. authority to protect the sea tufiles from direct harvesting 2004, 2006), Fibropapillomarosis. which affects -sreen and fisheries bycatch in the sunoundin-s waters. ln Taiwarr turlles almost worldwide in recent vears. has been reporled and Hon-e Kon-e. the nestin-r beaches on Wan-an Islancl twice in the subadult green turtles in the waters of and Lamma Island'were also designated as a protected (I.J. Northem Taiwan Clren_e.unpubl. data. 1997). area. Entry to tl-renestins beaches is restricteclancl patrols are caried out during the nestin-s season (Cheng and Lin CONSERVATION AND MANAGEN{ENT 1996: Chan 20041. Various habitat rlana-qementmeasllres. includin-e the remo'al of weeds. collection of refuse. ancr A number of measures were implementecl in China rnonitoring of site conditions. are also carriecl out in with view a to protectin-e the endangered sea tufiles and Lamma Island durir-r_sthe nestin-sseason (Chan 2004).In their l-rabitats. Tl"rese measures are briefly describecl as Xisha Archipelago, access to the islands and fishin-e follows. activity in the sun'oundine waters are prohibited at - Legctl Protectiort Status. All 5 speciesof sea tufiles Qilianyu for the protection of the sea tufiles nesting there are protected "second in China. They are listed as Class (Lian-e et al. 19901. A field srarion was ser up for rhe sea State Protected Anirnals" in "List the of State Key turtle conservation works (Huang 19Bj ). In Nansha Protected people's Wildlife" under the Law of the Archipela_eo. the beaches around Taipin Islar-rd ale Republic of China on the Prorection of Wildlife. The patlolled b1' Coast Guards during the day. Light ancl hunting. catchin_9.or killin-e of any prorecred wildlife is human activities are prohibited on the beaches at nigrrt for' prohibited (Anonvmous. 1992). China is also a sienatory security reasons. These lestrictions provide a suitable state to the CITES and Bonn Convention. In Taiwan and environrnent for nestin-c tllftles on the island (I.J. Chene" Hong Kong. sea tufiles are also protected under the local unpubl.data.2007). ordinances respectively (Anonymous lggl . lggg, 2002a1. Regional ortd Internotionol Cctoperatiott. - A tight- Monitr.tring - arrcl Cctttservation of Sett Turtles. The knit spirit of cooperation has developed amons the Gangkou Sea Turtle National Nature Reserve inrpler-uented conservation officials and academics of the mainland. popLrlation a species conservation prosrarn in Ig8-5. Taiwan, Hong Kong. and the united Statesfor inf-o'nation rnonitorin-e and conventior-raitag-sing have been emploired exchange. staff trainin_q, and scientific str_rdies(Chan since then to study the population dynantics and nesting 2004). Joint research endeavors on the satellite telenetry ecology of the sea turtles. In addition, a lreacl-starlin,q of postnestin-rmi-qration of green turtles in Gan_rkou(Song prosram has been conducted to improve the survivorship et al. 2002b) and on the bvcarch of loggerhead turrles by of sea turtle population. Satelltte telemetrl'on the set-netfisheries in Taiwan (I.J. Chen-e,unpubl. data. 1996) postr-resting mi_eration of green turtles has been can-ied have been can'ied ollt. in order to obtain a bener out to identify the whereabouts of their resident foraging understanding of sea tur-tle ecology in the resior-l. An grounds (Song et al. 2002b). In Taiu,,an.rlonirorin-s of the intematior-ral wortshop was helcl in 2000 in Taipei to nesting population has been can-ied out at Wan-an Islancl plomote and foster infblmation exchange on sea tufile (Chen-s since 1992 and at Lanyu Island since 1997 2002). research and conservation. with relevant Asian cour.itries In addition. vadous studieswere caried out on the nestin-s sharins the critical habitats of the green tur-t.resnesting in ecology. satellite telemetry. threats, and incubatior-r Taiwan (Chene 2000d; Cheng et al. 2000). In 2006. a Sea environment of sea tut'tles in these areas (Chen 1998. Turtle Stranding and Nec'opsy' Intemarional workshop 2002, Lin 1999: Wan_e and Cheng \999: Chen-e 2000a. was held in Makung. PenghLrcounry. to foster infonnatiorr 194 CseloureNcoxsenv.qrroN .{ND Brolocv. vorume6, [/Lunber2 - 2007

exchange and fielcl experience between Taiwan and the tion, as well ;is the coordinationof funcl-raisingtor the united States,and provicied usetirl recommendations to the conservationof sea turtles in china. Ecotourism ancl cLl[ent sea tufile strandin_grepoft and necropsy proceclures environmentaleducation programs may also achieve in Taiwan (I.J. Chen-eet al. 2006). similar,eoals. Educatiort ctnd Public Aw'areness. - Trre rerevant Firnnc'ial SrLpport.- Necessaryfunclin_q, as well as parties have ananged various local programs ancl pr_rb- resoLlrcesfor the conservationof sea tufiles in china. is lished educationmaterials to raise the public awarenesson limited. For example,the Gangkor-rsea Turtle National the conservationof sea turlles in mainlanclchina. Taiwan. Nature Reserve has limited funds for their routine irnd Hong Kon-q respectively. A cleclicatedwebsite ].,,ttp:ll managementwork, hamperingresearch there. In adclition, www.marinetLrrtle.net). introdr-rcing the Gangkou sea lar-qeamoLrnts of nestingdata. collectecl since the reserve Turtle National Nature Resewe anci relevant activities. was established.have yet to be properlv analyzed. was set Lrp in 2004. There was also wicle mass mecliir sufficient fundingshould be providedto the naturereserve coverase, which has attracteci much pLrblic attention in and other relatedsea tufile conservationworks in china. mainland China. Taiwan, ancl Hon_e Kon_e. C'nservation of Sea TL.rrtlesat Xisha, Dongsha, ancl NcmshaArchipelctgos. - Xisha. Dongsha and Nansha C ONSERVATION REC OMMENDATIONS Archipela-eosare the important nesting ancl toraging groundsfor seaturtles. Due to the complex international In recent years, an increase in work has been done on political situation,it has been difficult to set up nature the conservation of the endanserecJ sea turtles in China. reservesin theseareas (Gomez, 1996). perhaps, a regional However. there is still insLrfficient information on the liaison can be a-ereedto, amon_qconcernecl states in the existing population statusand distribution of nesting sites re-eion,as an effectiveway to promotethe protectionof sea and foraging -qror-rnds,which poses a major obstacle to the turtle resollrces.For example,the relevant _qovernments effective conservation management of sea turtles in china may coordinate sea turtle slrrueys in the offshore (cheng 1998b). The tb[owing recommenclations are. archipelagosto collectthe baselineof nestin,sand foragin,q therefore, proposed. populations there. The coast Guards on the Dongsha Action Plan- - In view of their critical statlls, we urge Arcliipelagoand raipin Islandof the NanshaArchipelago the development of a national action plan for the should be encouragedto actively protect sea turtle protection of sea turtles in China. This action plan must populations.both on land and at sea. identify specific problems ancl requirements for the lon_e- Fisheries Enforcement.- Despite bein_qlisted as te'* conseryation of sea turtles in china ancl appropriate protected species,illegal harvestin_eof sea tufiles still re-eionalcooperation..mllst be sou_ehtto implement this occllrs in china occasionallyand enforcementneeds to be plan. stren-qthened.Surveys must be carriedout to identify the Contprehensive Fielcl Sunte:-s. - There is a lack of potentialthreats of fisheriesbycatch on seaturtles. ancl the Lrp-to-dateinformation on the distribution of sea tuftles in possibility of applying environmentallyfi'iendly gears, china. A comprehensive freld survey is needed to identit,v suchas turtleexcluder devices and bi_ecircle hooks, etc., the existin-enestin-e sites ^nd foragin_ggror-rnds. Apart trom to reduce the impact of fisheriesbycatch in china. As the well-known nestin-qsites in Gan,9kou, wan-ern Islancl. Ionglinefisheries have been identified as a major causeof Lanyu Island, and Lamma Islancl, the statlls of other seaturtle mortalityboth on the coastand on the high seas known nesting sites, inch-rdin-ethe Dongsha, Nansha, e,ncl (Lewison et al. 2004), a public awarenesscampaien. Xisha archipela-eos,neecls to be r.rpclatedand more in-depth highlightinetechniques ro reclucelongline bycatch.- is surveys are required. Nesting sites that have clisappeared ur-eentlyneeded to protectthese enclan,eered, ancl rapidly on the mainland and Hainan Islancl should also be declinin_e,species. sr-u.'zeyedto identify if there are any signs of recovery. RegionaLancl Internationttl Cooperctti China is satellite telemetry is a very useful and cost- rnd trme- not cllrrently a signatorystate to the recently concludecl effective tool to identify the turtles' resident foragin_e Memorandumof understandingon the conservation ancl grounds and mi,qration pathwa)is in the (Cheng ocean Managementof Marine Turtles and their Habitats of the 2000a, 2000b, 2001: Song et al. 2002b; Wang et al. 2002: Indian Ocean and Sourh-EastAsia (IOSEA MoU). Chan et al. 2003). This technique shoulclbe promored and Furthermore,little informationon the seaturtles of china applied rnore fi'eqLrently. is availableto internationalsocieties. Being a group of Eclucatiort ctncLpublic Awarendss. - The consenra- transbor-rndaryspecies, more regional and intemational tion of sea turtles is depenclenton the suppor-t of the public. cooperationis neededfbr the long-terrnconservation of A widespre.d public awareness campaign can generate sea tuftles in China. considerationshoutd be given to such support, wl-rich is Lrrgently needed in china. from joining the IosEA Mou andorher relevanr organizations, both a financial and social perspective. The recently in order to cooperatemore closely with nearby statesfor launched website of the Gangkor-r sea Tur-tle National the protectionof this sharedresource. opportunities for Nature Reserve (|'tttp.llwww.marineturtle.net) can selve as internationaland re-eionalcooperation must be sou_qht, a convenient plattorm for the dissemination of intbrma- particularlyjoint researchinto the ecology and rnanase- ,

cunx Er AL.- Populatior-rand conserrrationStatus of SeaTurtles 195

ment of nestin-gsites and fora_einggrounds. as well as Marine Biology. National Taiwan OceanUniversity. Taiwan -seneticsof the populationof seaturtles in the Southchina (in Chinesewith English abstract)" Seab1 nej_shboringcounrries. CuEx. J.L. 1998. The influenceof the variarionin rhe nesr temperatureto the hatchlin-esex ratio andhatching condition of AcxNoTvIEDGMENTS sreentufile on WananIsland. Penshu Archipelago. MS thesis. Instituteof Manne Biolo_uy.National Taiwan OceanUniver- sit1,.Taiwan (In Chinese The aurhors would like to thank the followin_s with Englishabstract). CHcN.J.L.. Tsnr. W.S.. ,qNn CHENc. I.J. 2004.Records of the sea or-eanizations for their permission to use relevant data in turtle rehabilitationin PenghuWarers (Abstract). 2004 Anrlr-ral the preparation of this manuscript: Agriculture, Fisher.ies Symposiumon the Animal Behaviorand Ecolo_qy.Taipei. and Conservation Departnrent: Gan_ekou Sea Turtle cHex. T.H. n^rocupNc. I.J. r995. 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