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Marine Turtle Newsletter 2:1-2, © 1977

Imports of Hawksbill Turtle Shell in Japan

based on information provided by
Dr. Itaru Uchida
Director, Himeji City Aquarium, Tegarayama, Himeji City, 670, Japan

Dr. Uchida writes to us that the following amounts of hawksbill turtle shell were imported in Japan over a 5 year period:

This information came from the "Japanese Tortoise Shell Association Newsletter", 1976, v. 7, p. 3, printed in Nagasaki City, Japan. The existence of such a newsletter will be of interest in itself to people outside Japan.

Another point of interest is the drop in imports after 1973. Dr. Uchida is of the opinion that this is related to the convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora. However, Japan has not ratified this convention and it is likely that hawksbill shells will still be available from other countries that also have not ratified this convention.

In 1975 the greatest imports to Japan were from:

Other countries supplying over 1,000 kg. in 1975 were: The Philippines, Kenya, Tanzania. Nicaragua and the Cayman Islands. Fuller information is in the Japanese Tortoise Shell Association Newsletter mentioned above.

All the figures given here refer to registered imports. Dr. Uchida thinks that unregistered import of hawksbill shells to Japan is relatively minor.

Returning to registered imports, a total of 220 metric tons of hawksbill shell were imported into Japan between 1971 and 1975. It is difficult to translate this into numbers of turtles, but one estimate is that about 240,000 hawksbills were involved. The price of the shells is known, and for the 220 metric tons mentioned, was 2,963,143,000 yen (approximately $9.87 million, USA).

In summary:

1. Imports of hawksbill shells to Japan are clearly many thousands of turtles each year. (suppose a hawksbill provides on average .91 kg. of scutes, then for 1975 alone, more than 40,000 hawksbills were involved).
2. It is possible that the convention on international trade in endangered species has, at least temporarily, reduced this trade. Another interpretation is that heavy buying occurred in 1973 in anticipation of the convention. In either case efforts to stimulate more governments to ratify this convention could have beneficial effects on the outlook for hawksbills.
3. It would be of interest to hear from Dr. Uchida, in the future, what actions he thinks might be appropriate, especially any by people outside Japan.