seaturtle.org : MTN : ARCHIVES : Sign In

Marine Turtle Newsletter 21:1-2, © 1982

Need for a Regional Ridley Program in the East Pacific

Mario Hurtadogo G.
Instituto Nacional de Pesca, Casilla 5918, Guayaquil, Ecuador

Research on Lepidochelys olivaceain Mexico and Costa Rica has been documented (Marquez, 1976; Cornelius and Robinson, 1980). Little is known, however, about the efforts of investigators in Nicaragua and Panama. In both these countries, although some tagging has taken place, there are insufficient funds to support regular tagging (R. Arostegui, pers. comm.; D. Tovar, pers. comm.). In Ecuador there have been recoveries of L. olivacea tagged in Mexico and Costa Rica (Green, 1978; Green and Ortiz, in press). This resulted in the National Fisheries Institute establishing a L. olivacea program in May 1980. Since then, there have been 10 tag recoveries from Costa Rica and 5 from Mexico (Hurtado, in press). In addition, it is possible that some ridleys in Ecuador may have come from Nicaraguan and Panamanian beaches.

There is a need to establish a regional L. olivacea program. With this in mind the author visited organizations responsible for research on L. olivacea in these 4 countries. The idea was received with great enthusiasm. It is now necessary to extend this to the other countries where the species occurs some of which were given in Marquez et al. (1976). Moreover, the National Fisheries Institute in Mexico has concrete plans to organize a turtle meeting for 1982 and plans for a regional program will be presented then. It will be possible to discuss methodology; a center for collection and interchange of dates, training of assistants and especially obtaining funds for tags and rewards. It has to be noted, however, that establishment of a regional Lepidochelys olivacea program is only in the initial stages.

Green, D. and Ortiz, F. (in press). Proceedings of the World Conference on Sea Turtle Conservation, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C.

Green. D. Investigacions sobre las tortugas marinas en las costas del Ecuador Continental. Report to National Fisheries Institute (INP), Guayaquil, 66 pp.

Hurtado, M. (in press). Boletin Informativo INP - Ecuador.

Marquez, R., et al. (1976). Sinopsis de datos biologicos sobre la tortuga golfina INP. Sinop. Pesca, (2):61 pp.