MTN 35:4-5 Kemp's Ridley Continues Decline

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Kemp's Ridley Continues Decline

Jack B. Woody
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, PO Box 1306 Albuquerque, NM 87103 USA

Based on the number of nests collected annually for the past 8 years (1978-1985), the US Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that there has been a decline in the nesting population of the Kemp's ridley turtles (Lepidochelys kempi) of approximately 30%. This decline cannot be attributed to poaching or predation on the nesting beach at Rancho Nuevo, Mexico, where protective efforts of the Mexican Fisheries Department are intense and successful.

Year	# Nests Collected	Estimated # Adult Females*
1978	924	711
1979	954	734
1980	868	668
1981	897	690
1982	750	577
1983	746	574
1984	798	613
1985	673	518
* Obtained using 1.3 nests per female, as suggested by Márquez. Should number of nests per females be higher, then estimates of numbers of females would be even lower than given here.

Although there is some recruitment to the nesting population, it is obvious that the level of recruitment is not sufficient to maintain the population. Survival of young Kemp's ridleys to maturity must be dramatically improved or the species will not survive in the wild. Additional and immediate actions, voluntary or mandatory, are necessary to reduce the recognized incidental catch of Kemp's ridleys by trawlers in U.S. and Mexican waters as one obvious corrective measure which could be instituted by the respective governments and the industry.