Swimming Against the Tide: Recent Surveys of Exploitation, Trade, And Management of Marine Turtles In the Northern Caribbean By Elizabeth H. Fleming This prepublication copy contains the full final text of the report. The final publication will contain additional maps and photographs. TRAFFIC North America April 2001 Published by TRAFFIC North America Washington, D.C., USA © 2001 TRAFFIC North America All rights reserved. ISBN 0-89164-161-0 All material appearing in this publication is copyrighted and may be produced with permission. Any reproduction in full or in part of this publication must credit TRAFFIC North America as the copyright owner. The views of the authors expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the TRAFFIC Network, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), or IUCN-The World Conservation Union. The designations of geographical entities in this publication and the presentation of material do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of TRAFFIC or its supporting organizations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The TRAFFIC symbol copyright and Registered Trademark ownership is held by WWF. TRAFFIC is a joint program of WWF and IUCN. Cover photograph by Ursula Keuper-Bennett and Peter Bennett Design by Williams Production Group Printed on recycled paper. CONTENTS FOREWORD ....................................................................................................................v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................................. vi EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...............................................................................................1 I. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................3 II. METHODS ..............................................................................................................5 III. REGIONAL OVERVIEW......................................................................................7 A. Conservation Status of and Threats to Marine Turtles in the Northern Caribbean.................................................................................. 7 B. Regulation of Marine Turtle Exploitation and Trade in the Caribbean ................8 IV. NATIONAL REVIEWS........................................................................................19 A. The Commonwealth of the Bahamas..................................................................19 B. The British Virgin Islands...................................................................................31 C. The Cayman Islands............................................................................................41 D. The Republic of Cuba.........................................................................................55 E. The Dominican Republic ....................................................................................73 F. The Republic of Haiti..........................................................................................87 G. Jamaica ...............................................................................................................93 H. United Mexican States, Atlantic Coast.............................................................105 I. The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico..................................................................127 J. The Turks and Caicos Islands ...........................................................................145 K. The Virgin Islands of the United States............................................................153 V. SUMMARY..........................................................................................................169 VI. RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................................................................173 TABLES 1. TRAFFIC Field Visits in the Northern Caribbean..................................................................................5 2. Membership of Surveyed Nations/Territories in Conventions Pertaining to the Conservation of Marine Turtles, as of March 2001...................................................12 3. Minimum Size Limits for Legal Harvest of Marine Turtles.................................................................13 4. Exploitation of Hawksbill Turtles in the Northern Caribbean: Facts at a Glance ................................14 5. Exploitation of Green Turtles in the Northern Caribbean: Facts at a Glance .......................................15 6. Exploitation of Loggerhead Turtles in the Northern Caribbean: Facts at a Glance..............................16 7. Exploitation of Leatherback Turtles in the Northern Caribbean: Facts at a Glance .............................17 8. Main Projects Assessing Marine Turtle Activities in the Bahamas......................................................22 9. Recorded Landings of Marine Turtles (including hawksbills until 1986) in the Bahamas (predominantly Nassau), 1980-1998 (in pounds/kilograms) ................................................................25 10. Recorded Landings of Marine Turtles in the Bahamas by Species, 1993-1998 (in pounds/kilograms) ...........................................................................................................................25 11. Marine Turtles Occurring in the British Virgin Islands........................................................................31 12. Marine Turtles Occurring in the Cayman Islands.................................................................................42 13. Marine Turtles Occurring in Cuba........................................................................................................55 14. Main Projects Assessing Marine Turtle Activities in Cuba..................................................................60 15. Marine Turtle Meat Production at the Isle of Pines, 1990-1998 (in kilograms) ...................................66 16. Marine Turtles Occurring in the Dominican Republic .........................................................................73 17. Main Projects Assessing Marine Turtle Activity in the Dominican Republic......................................76 18. Landings of Marine Turtle Meat Recorded at Major Fishing Ports in the Dominican Republic, 1975-1987 (in kilograms/pounds) ........................................................................................79 19. Marine Turtles Occurring in Haiti ........................................................................................................87 20. Marine Turtles Occurring in Jamaica ...................................................................................................93 21. Main Projects Assessing Marine Turtle Activity in Jamaica................................................................96 22. Marine Turtles Occurring on Mexico’s Atlantic Coast ......................................................................105 23. Natural Protected Areas Providing Marine Turtle Habitat on Mexico’s Atlantic Coast ....................112 24. Turtle Camps on Mexico’s Atlantic Coast in 2000.............................................................................113 25. Marine Turtles Occurring in Puerto Rico ...........................................................................................127 26. Main Projects Assessing Marine Turtle Activity in Puerto Rico........................................................131 27. Marine Turtles Occurring in the Turks and Caicos Islands ................................................................145 28. Marine Turtles Occurring in the U.S. Virgin Islands .........................................................................153 29. Main Projects Assessing Marine Turtle Activities in the U.S. Virgin Islands ..................................157 FOREWORD Marine turtle conservation efforts in recent decades seem to have attracted more than their fair share of charismatic, dedicated champions. Tragically, the completion of this report on marine turtle exploitation in the Northern Caribbean coincided with the premature loss of one of the most courageous and determined of them all. Elvira Carrillo Cardenas (1941-2001) spent the last 20 years of her life striving to deal with science, conservation, history, and the economic hardship faced by the people of her country in order to manage marine turtle fisheries in Cuba. Her leadership of Cuba's efforts to gain CITES approval of limited hawksbill turtle shell exports in 1997 and 2000 was a relatively small part of this work, but it was doubtless among the most stressful tasks of her career. Elvira went to extraordinary lengths to engage anyone who was motivated to learn more about Cuba's marine turtle management program. She was determined to understand the perspectives and reasoning of those who questioned the approaches she believed so strongly to be right. In doing so, she gained respect from people across the wide spectrum of opinion. Her sense of humor, honesty, and friendship will be widely missed. When Elvira first heard about TRAFFIC's research for this report, she understandably suspected yet another attempt to undermine Cuba's position in CITES. Eventually, though, she became a key contributor to our understanding of marine turtle management in Cuba and its place in the context of the surprisingly active legal and illegal fisheries and domestic markets we found elsewhere