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Hawksbill Red List Assessment Accepted by IUCN
We are pleased to report that the IUCN Red List Standards and Petitions Working Group has approved a status of Critically Endangered (A2bd) for the hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), as described in the Red List status assessment prepared by Jeanne Mortimer and Marydele Donnelly, and as recommended to IUCN by the MTSG Assessment Steering Committee.

The final hawksbill assessment will be included in the next iteration of the IUCN Red List. In the meantime, a .PDF version is available online at the MTSG website: <http://www.iucn-mtsg.org/red_list/ei/index.shtml>.

Flatback Red List Assessment Under Revision
Following an initial review by the MTSG’s Assessment Steering Committee in January-February 2008 and subsequent revision, the draft Red List assessment of the flatback turtle (Natator depressus) has recently undergone a two-month MTSG membership-wide review period that ended on 4 June 2008. Following this period, during which many valuable comments were received, the assessment is now undergoing further revision by the assessor, Andrea Whiting, with support from the MTSG Assessment Steering Committee. We expect that a final version of the assessment will completed and submitted to IUCN for consideration within the coming months.

SWOT Minimum Data Standards Meeting - June 2008

From June 2 to 4, 2008, the State of the World’s Sea Turtles (SWOT) Scientific Advisory Board and a few key others convened in Shepherdstown, WV, USA for a second meeting to discuss the development and dissemination of global data standards for the SWOT effort. Those in attendance were: Tom Barry, Milani Chaloupka, Anthony Chatwin, Andrew DiMatteo, Scott Eckert, Marc Girondot, Brian Hutchinson, Suzanne Livingstone, Neca Marcovaldi, Rod Mast, Michelle Pico, Jeff Seminoff, Bryan Wallace, and Andrea Whiting.

With joint funding from Conservation International, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the SWOT project, the SWOT Scientific Advisory Board is working to standardize the nesting data submitted to and presented by SWOT by developing minimum standards for nest data collection and statistical models to estimate actual nesting numbers from incomplete monitoring coverage. Standardizing data on the global scale will allow for direct comparisons between nesting sites and examination of nesting trends on the local, regional, and global scales, a previously impossible task in most cases.

The SWOT Scientific Advisory Board is now working to test and develop statistical models that will be freely available, user-friendly, and intended to give researchers and data providers a tool to analyze their data and make estimations about actual nesting numbers in the absence of complete monitoring coverage. Applying the model to data submitted to SWOT will also improve data quality and standardize data points across the board, allowing for future trend analyses on broader geographic scales.

One of the primary goals of this meeting and of this broader SWOT effort is also to determine the minimum level of nesting beach monitoring necessary for relevant trend analysis over time. Given that 100% nesting beach or season coverage is not possible in all, or even most instances, SWOT intends to determine the minimum effort necessary for monitoring a nesting population over time in order to provide guidance to projects with limited resources or other constraints that prevent complete coverage. This will also provide guidance to those looking to begin monitoring on previously un-studied or remotely located nesting beaches.

Outputs from the June meeting are still under development, and will be made fully available to the public by early 2009. These include the aforementioned statistical model and supplementary information, as well as a multi-lingual booklet describing minimum standards for nest data collection and the use of statistical modeling to estimate true nesting numbers.

These developments are particularly relevant to the MTSG in the context of regional and global status assessments, as issues of data quality and standardization have presented challenges to assessors in all previous Red List assessments. The MTSG will continue to be a partner in this important effort, and we will continue to provide updates in our quarterly reports.

IUCN Lighting Mission to Dhamra Port, 2008

Between March 20 and 27, 2008, Dr. Nicolas J. Pilcher, Co-Chair, IUCN SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group, along with Blair Witherington, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and IUCN SSC MTSG Member, and Erik Martin, Scientific Director of Ecological Associates, Inc. and IUCN SSC MTSG Member travelled to Orissa to assist DPCL with the design of a lighting plan to minimise the emitted light and potential downstream impacts to nesting adult turtles and emerging hatchlings at the Gahirmatha mass-nesting site. Dena Dickerson also travelled to India to follow-up on dredging activities. Her visit overlapped the lighting mission, but concentrated entirely on ensuring the draghead deflector on the dredger operating off the coast was working properly, and to further train the observers in NOAA reporting standards. Following completion of the lighting mission, a series of key documents was prepared for DPCL to guide in the design and implementation of lighting mitigation efforts.

The Port construction and development activities have the potential to emit a large amount of light. These sources include direct light, reflected light and sky glow, and all have the potential to impact on the reproductive success of sea turtles. For example, females may be deterred from nesting on their preferred beach or hatchlings are disoriented or misoriented after emerging from the nest, and fail to make it to the water (Witherington and Martin 1996).

The visit entailed a number of meetings between the MTSG team and the engineers and management of the Port, site visits and appraisals of existing and potential future conditions, and handouts were provided of the types of lights available, the deficiencies in descriptions, the need for being conservative when planning for light types to account for future changes, storm damage, etc.

Amongst the key points of the discussions were that the Port is to be a mostly automated facility, where much of the storage areas will be covered, with little emitted light. A number of specific examples of where light could be regulated emerged, such as pathway lights on the conveyors to minimise light to atmosphere, and in cabins up high on the transfer belts, which will needs minimal, directed lighting for safety to get to the cabin, but not massive lights to illuminate the entire area. Key lighting concerns also arose, such as at the transfer points, where will be light intensive, and the arrangement of berth lights, along with heights of masts, which needs to be planned early. Specific fixtures can be found in India that meet the requirements, and there is no need to outsource high-cost luminaries. During a second meeting to investigate lighting options based on Port requirements, and to meet India Standards, the IUCN team met with the engineers for discussions on lamp height, fixture shape, number and wattage of fittings, etc. for all aspects of the Port installation. A spreadsheet of requirements vs. possible alternatives for key sites was developed during this meeting which will be used as a guide for the actual lighting plan layout.

The IUCN team stressed that light management needed thinking on a long-term basis, with some form of a plan, so that future managers can see if lights meet the management plan, and to make sure that after the port grows and evolves, and after staff changes, a guiding document is in place to ensure longevity of the process. The IUCN team indicated its experts could provide basic light management plans which can be incorporated into DPCL’s Port Manual.

On site, the team visited the port area to look at lighting impacts from preliminary construction activities. Several lights were found to create unnecessary glare and the IUCN team suggested that this evidence would be a good way to slowly bring the consultants and engineers on board with the issues of lighting. It was felt by the IUCN team that if the construction gangs could adhere to lighting provisions then the subsequent port operations would already be on the right footing. A hired trawler was used the following day to visit the Port site from the offshore direction, and to inspect the barriers and distance between the Port site and the Gahirmatha nesting beach. The trip revealed that the at-sea straight line distance was quite large, and that while direct lighting was unlikely to have a major impact on turtles, the sky glare could pose a significant problem if not addressed, and thus the recommendations on lighting from IUCN would have to be strictly adhered to, so that upwards glare would be minimised.

The trip was also used to check on progress with the dredging, as following a second trip to Dhamra by Dena Dickerson earlier in the month to assess the performance of the draghead deflector, it was found that some additional horizontal depth was needed to ensure constant seabed contact with the deflector, which has since been rectified and checked by the IUCN team.

Finally , in an effort to start to address the fishery mortality issues, N. Pilcher and B. Bhuta conducted a dialogue session with the fishermen to get a feel of their concerns and interests in participating in trial efforts to mitigate fishery bycatch. The fishers acknowledged that something needed doing about the turtle mortality and indicated they were, in principle, agreeable to being part of some form of conservation programmes, and to work out a mutually agreeable solution. The fishermen all agreed we should meet again, and welcomed the idea of learning more about turtles, their biology, and what can be done to mitigate fishery impacts.

Dhamra Port Stakeholder Meeting in Planning

IUCN is coordinating a stakeholder meeting near the end of September 2008 (exact dates TBD) in Bhubaneswar in the eastern Indian state of Orissa to discuss a number of issues relevant to the Dhamra port development project. The broad agenda for this meeting is: 1) To discuss issues in a transparent and constructive manner; 2) To arrive at a comprehensive holistic plan for turtle conservation; 3) To create a platform for concerted action. Representatives from the following stakeholder groups are being invited to this meeting: IUCN, scientific community, NGOs, state authorities (environment, wildlife, and fisheries), corporate bodies (DPCL and others), defense officers (due to close proximity of missile testing site to port development), coast guard, fishermen community, and media.

We will continue to provide updates on this effort as details become available and will use this forum and the MTSG email listserv to share and discuss meeting outputs.