Marine Turtle Newsletter 49:23-25, © 1990
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Marine Turtle Newsletter 49:23-25, © 1990
FINE LEVIED FOR VIOLATION OF ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT: GUAM-Guam's fish and wildlife programs received a hefty boost recently (6 November 1989) when a check for $35,000 was deposited into the Wildlife Conservation Fund, in effect releasing the Fu Chi Hsiang No. 737, the Taiwanese fishing vessel seized last month for violation of the Endangered Species Act of Guam. Approved by Superior Court Judge B. J. Cruz, the settlement, which included a plea of nolo contendere (no contest) by the Captain of the vessel, culminated weeks of negotiation between the vessel's attorney and Attorney General's Office represented by Assistant Attorney General Diane Pierson, who represented the Department of Agriculture's Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources (DAWR). Negotiations centered on the amount of money the vessel owner would have to pay before he could retrieve his vessel.
The 212-foot purse seiner, which docked at the Commercial Port on its way to Tinian, had been under DAWR custody since 18 October 1989 when Customs and Quarantine officers from the Department of Commerce discovered three small [35-45 cm] live hawksbill turtles on the vessel. The DAWR was notified and Conservation Officer Lieutenant John S. Villagomez immediately seized the ship and arrested its captain, Gao An Kuo, charging him with violating the Endangered Species Act of Guam. Immediately after the $35,000 check was certified and the ship was released, Captain Kuo and his crew set sail for Taiwan. The turtles, on the other hand, have since been tagged and released by DAWR fisheries biologists.
According to DAWR records, the $35,000 award is the single largest amount ever assessed any violator of Guam's Endangered Species Act or fish and game laws and regulations. It is also the single largest amount ever deposited into the Wildlife Conservation Fund which is used for the administration and support of DAWR programs and activities. Once commonly found in Guam's waters, the hawksbill turtle is one of three sea turtles found in the area. The others are the more common green sea turtle and the very rare leatherback sea turtle. All are protected by Federal and local endangered species laws which make it illegal to possess, sell, capture, or kill sea turtles. [The laws] also prohibit the sale and transport of whole turtles, meat, shells, and products such as stuffed turtles and turtle jewelry. DAWR works in close cooperation with the Customs and Quarantine Division of the [USA] Department of Commerce as well as with the National Marine Fisheries Service, a Federal agency which enforces Federal law governing sea turtles and other marine animals. Source: Press Release; contact person: Lillian L. Mariano, Public Information Officer, Aquatic & Wildlife Resources, Government of Guam, FAX: 734-6570.
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PLAN TO STOP EATING TURTLE EGGS: KUALA LUMPUR-The [Malaysia] Fisheries Department will begin a campaign to discourage the eating of turtle eggs early next year. The campaign is against the eating of all turtle eggs and not just the famous leatherback or belimbing species. In this way the Department aims to protect other turtles like the green (agar), olive ridley (lipas) and the hawksbill (karah) species. The Department's Deputy Director, Encik Mazlan Jusoh, said the campaign is likely to be launched at the start of the turtle nesting season around March. Although there is a ban in Terengganu against the eating and selling of leatherback turtles' eggs, people are still violating the law, he said.
"All are endangered species, and the future of the leatherback turtles in particular is bleak," Encik Mazlan said. He said the intensive fishing had resulted in the turtles being endangered. "Last season, there were only 180 recorded nestings by the leatherback turtles," he said. Considering that each turtle nests about five or six times, this means that only about 30 returned to nest last season. On the other hand, agar turtles nested about 2,000 to 3,000 times in Peninsular Malaysia during the same season. These were mainly on Terengganu beaches. "The agar turtle can still be saved if we start now. But it is difficult for the leatherbacks, even if we take all the eggs that are laid now and incubate them," he said. Although the number of agar turtles is the biggest, there is a downward trend in the number of nestings. In 1984, there were 4,200 nestings, but it fell to 3,500 last year. The nestings by the leatherback turtles had fallen from 700 to 220 during the same period. The Department has five hatcheries for agar turtles. In Terengganu, these are in Pulau Ledang, Pulau Perhentian and Rantau Abang. The others are in Pahang and Kelantan. Encik Mazlan said last season the carcasses of five turtles were found in Terengganu. They had died after being trapped by nets. Source: excerpted from New Sunday Times, Malaysia, 24 December 1989.
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REPATRIATION OF SEA TURTLE: A large sea turtle (Caretta caretta) was discovered last week washed up on the County Kerry coast. It is believed to be of American origin. The Irish Defense Forces flew it to Northern Ireland on 19 January, where it is now recuperating in a special sea water tank, the only one of its kind in the two countries. Mr. Gabriel King, a naturalist who has overseen its care to date, wants to repatriate it in about four weeks time, probably to Florida via New York. In this respect, he hopes that one of the international airlines, possibly Aer Lingus, will "take it under its wing". Source: unclassified telegram, U. S. Department of State, Dublin.
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CARIBBEAN NATIONS AGREE ON MEASURES TO PROTECT WILDLIFE, SENSITIVE AREAS: KINGSTON, Jamaica-After months of exhaustive discussions, 13 Caribbean basin nations January 18 agreed on measures for the protection of wildlife and specially protected areas. At a meeting in Kingston, Jamaica, the 13 countries signed a new protocol to the Convention for Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region, also called the Cartagena Convention. The protocol will take effect when ratified by nine countries, a process that could take two to five years, according to Milton Kaufmann, a U. S. conservationist who has led efforts to see the protocol come to fruition. The protocol commits the countries involved to conserve, maintain, and restore coastal and marine ecosystems, habitats, and associated ecosystems critical to the survival and recovery of endangered, threatened, or endemic species of flora or fauna. Areas of special biological, ecological, educational, scientific, historic, and cultural value are also embraced under the protocol. Regulations to protect these areas will include prohibiting the dumping or discharge of wastes, monitoring of coastal disposal or discharges causing pollution, and controlling the passage of ships. Parties to the protocol can establish buffer zones contiguous to international boundaries, but in close consultation with each other, or with other countries which are not party to the pact. Further, the protocol provides for regional states to co-ordinate their protection efforts through bilateral or multilateral actions, including treaties for the protection and recovery of migratory species whose range extends into areas under their sovereignty.
Sálvano Briceño, Co-ordinator of the Caribbean Environment Program of the United Nations Environment Program, said a list of protected species to be included in the annexes will be prepared. Follow-up meetings for this purpose, involving technical and advisory committees, are expected in September and October. Another conference of parties to the protocol will then be convened. The list will be prepared in conjunction with the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources [IUCN], which has identified 8,000 protected species. The list for the Caribbean protocol is expected to be much smaller. Governments are required to submit tentative lists of species before March 1990. A resolution was approved for the appointment of an ad hoc group of experts to function as an interim scientific and technical advisory committee on protected areas and wildlife until the protocol goes into force. The 13 signatures of the protocol were Antigua and Barbuda, Colombia, Cuba, France, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, the Netherlands, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom, the United States [of America], and Venezuela. Source: International Environmental Reporter, February 14, 1990 (Vol. 13, No. 2), The Bureau of National Affairs, Washington D.C.