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Marine Turtle Newsletter 101:33-34, © 2003
Report from the “Research on Use” Session at the 23rd Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Matthew H. Godfrey1, Lisa M. Campbell2, Kartik Shanker3 & Charles Tambiah4
1Wildlife Resources Commission, 307 Live Oak St., Beaufort, NC 28516 USA (Email: godfreym@coastalnet.com)
2Department of Geography, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5C2 Canada (Email: lcampbe@uwo.ca)
3Wildlife Institute of India, PO Box 18, Chandrabani Dehradun, UP 248001 India (Email: kartikshanker@vsnl.net)
4Community Participation and Integrated Sea Turtle Conservation Initiative, 1-93 Duncan Street, Maroubra, NSW 2035, Australia (Email: turtlecommunity@yahoo.com)
Use of sea turtles, both consumptive and non-consumptive, exists worldwide. Whether we wish to eliminate it, manage it, or promote it, we first need to understand it, like any other aspect of sea turtle conservation. Consumptive or direct use of sea turtles is a contentious subject, and support or opposition to it is a major dividing line for many people involved in sea turtle conservation (Richardson 2000). Nonconsumptive or indirect use is also a major issue in sea turtle conservation, and is often invoked (in the form of ecotourism) as a means to afford ongoing protection of different populations of nesting sea turtles (e.g. Hirth et al. 1993). Despite its importance, and possibly due to passions evoked by it, utilization has never been broached as a session theme during annual sea turtle symposia. In March 2003, in Kuala Lumpur, we were given the opportunity to hold a session devoted to use.
Our intention was to focus on what can be learned from research on use, and build on infrequent papers presented at previous symposia. We wanted to bring a variety of disciplinary perspectives to the session, as use has important biological, legal, economic, social, cultural and political components and impacts. With this in mind, we invited a wide range of speakers to discuss their studies and results related to both consumptive and non-consumptive use.
The following presentations were made.
- Grahame J.W. Webb led off the session, presenting results of research on sustainable use of species other than marine turtles, and suggesting how these results may be instructive in some situations for marine turtles.
- Perran Ross presented biological data on green turtles that had been captured by local small scale fishermen in coastal Arabia, and discussed the nutritional importance of green turtles for local diets.
- Lisa M. Campbell discussed the economic impacts of non-consumptive use (and difficulties of measuring these) associated with two sea turtle projects in Caribbean Costa Rica that differ in both scale and size.
- Sali J. Bache traced the meaning of “sustainable use” as used in international instruments and conventions.
- Sue Ranger discussed the methodological challenges associated with measuring the socio-economic value of sea turtle use in UK overseas territories in the Caribbean using a standardized survey.
- Michael Guilbeaux discussed an ongoing effort to assess the social and biological impacts of the use of hawksbills in the Republic of Palau.
- Brendan J. Godley discussed historical harvests of green turtles on Ascension Island and the present day impacts and responses of the population.
- Charlie Manolis presented an overview of the results of the research involved with the ongoing hawksbill fishery in Cuba.
The presentations were followed by an open-floor discussion. To set the stage for this, we had asked two people (Jack Frazier and Kartik Shanker) to act as formal discussants, by briefly responding to the ideas presented in the session. Following their responses, general comments and questions were invited from the entire audience, and presenters were given the opportunity to respond. Due to time constraints, and perhaps because people were unfamiliar with the format (an unusual one for the symposium) the overall discussion was short. In the following days, however, we encountered a variety of reactions to the session, ranging from support to opening the discussion on use, to disappointment that the topic was included in a ‘conservation’ forum. As one of our aims was to facilitate further reflection on utilization as a topic for research, thereby leading to greater understanding, any kind of reaction (both positive and negative) was indicative of success.
Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Nick Pilcher for supporting our initiative and ensuring that all these papers were presented in one block of the symposium. We thank all the presenters and discussants, and those who were invited to participate but could not attend the symposium for various reasons: George Balazs, Selina Heppell, Jon Hutton, Wallace J. Nichols, Pamela Plotkin, Robin Sharpe, and Jeanette Wyneken.
Hirth, H. H., J. Kasu, & T. Mala. 1993. Observations on a leatherback turtle Dermochelys coriacea nesting population near Piguwa, Papua New Guinea. Biological Conservation 65:77-82.
RICHARDSON, P. 2000. Obstacles to Objectivity: First Impressions of a CITES CoP. Marine Turtle Newsletter 89:1-4.