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It is usually easier to find reasons for not doing something than finding support for experimental trials designed to learn if a proposed measure is, or can be modified to be effective and feasible. This surely is the response when it comes to questions about consumptive use of sea turtles: it cannot be successful, it should not be tried. Nevertheless, Professor Mohanty Hejmadi's (2009) thoughtful letter is welcome. Exploring different viewpoints, discussions of opinions and editorials, is one of the functions of the MTN. A few specific points in reply:

1) Sea turtle eggs and meat are still eaten in many parts of India. The pages of Kachhapa and the Indian Ocean Turtle Newsletter frequently refer to the consumption, exploitation, harvest, poaching, sale or trade of marine turtle meat and/or eggs (Bhupathy 2007; Bhupathy and Saravanan 2002; Kakodkar 2006; Katdare 2008; McCann 2007; Pandit 2008; Shanker 2003; Tripathy 2001; see also Mohanty Hejmadi 2008 for Gulf of Mannar). Such reports do not suggest that cultural practices and religious beliefs preclude the consumption of sea turtles in India.

There are indeed also places where the former poaching and consumption of sea turtle eggs and meat has ceased or is much reduced. Mohanty Hejmadi (2009) mentions the markets of Calcutta (see also Kumar 2007). It is generally thought that beach patrols and other activities of NGOs, together to some extent with regulations and enforcement, have contributed to these changes, rather than an upsurge in religious observance.

2) Even if the latter were the case in particular regions or communities, it does not negate the possibility of consumptive use of eggs obtained from thinning out of nests on overcrowded beaches. The eggs, or products derived from them, could be sold to people in other parts of India or in countries where such food is relished. It is my understanding that in Costa Rica few of the harvested ridley eggs are eaten at the beachside village of Ostional itself; most are sold in other venues. But the Ostional cooperative still benefits from these sales and thereby has a stake in the persistence of arribadas.

In Orissa it does not appear that turtle eggs were ever widely consumed by people locally. However, based on the account by Shanker and Kutty (2005), large numbers of eggs used to be collected from the Gahirmatha nesting beach. Presumably many went to Calcutta. Some were also sold locally in villages in Bhitarkanika. Large quantities of these were dried and preserved for use as feed for livestock.

3) I agree that the logistics of commerce present some challenges but these are not necessarily insuperable (see Mrosovsky 2001 for suggestions) - unless one starts with the mindset that it cannot be done. If - because of the unpredictability of where the arribadas will come ashore - hatcheries are run at the most suitable place each year, the same could be done with harvesting.

4) If consumption of doomed eggs is not permitted or not wanted, the question remains as to what if anything should be done with such wasted protein. Some options have been discussed elsewhere (Mrosovsky 2006). It is debatable whether giving animals that have failed the test of natural selection a second chance is the best.

Acknowledgements: I thank Kartik Shanker for informative suggestions.

BHUPATHY, S. 2007. Monitoring of marine turtles along the Kerala and Tamil Nadu coasts. Indian Ocean Turtle Newsletter No. 5: 1-9.

BHUPATHY, S & S. SARAVANAN. 2002. Status of sea turtles along the Tamil Nadu coast, India. Kachhapa No. 7: 7-13.

KAKODKAR, A. 2006. Perceptions of local stakeholders about marine turtles on the Sindhudurg coast of southern Maharashtra, India. Indian Ocean Turtle Newsletter No. 3: 1-5.

KATDARE, B. 2008. Five years of marine turtle conservation in Maharashtra, India (2002 - 2007). Indian Ocean Turtle Newsletter No. 7: 25-26.

KUMAR, S. 2007. Sea turtle conservation in Kasargod District, Kerala. Indian Ocean Turtle Newsletter No. 6: 28-29.

McCANN, P. 2007. Marine turtle conservation efforts in Udupi District, Karnataka. Indian Ocean Newsletter No. 5: 10-13.

MOHANTY HEJMADI, P. 2008. Olive ridley's churning of the ocean. Marine Turtle Newsletter No. 122: 11.

MOHANTY HEJMADI, P. 2009. Comments on Mrosovsky's suggestions for Orissa. Marine Turtle Newsletter, this issue.

MROSOVSKY, N. 2001. The future of ridley arribadas in Orissa: from triple waste to triple win? Kachhapa No. 5: 1-3.

MROSOVSKY, N. 2006. Distorting gene pools by conservation: assessing the case of doomed turtle eggs. 2006. Environmental Management 38: 523-531.

PANDIT, R. 2008. Sea turtle conservation in Uttara Kannada, India. Indian Ocean Turtle Newsletter No. 7: 27.

SHANKER, K. 2003. Thirty years of sea turtle conservation on the Madras coast: a review. Kachhapa No. 8: 16-19.

SHANKER, K & R. Kutty. 2005. Sailing the flagship fantastic: different approaches to sea turtle conservation in India. Mast 3 & 4: 213-240.

TRIPATHY, B. 2001. Preliminary report on the survey of sea turtles along Andhra Pradesh coast. Kachhapa No. 4: 20-22.

N. Mrosovsky
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S3G5 Canada (E-mail: nicholas.mrosovsky@utoronto.ca)