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Marine Turtle Newsletter 56:24-26, © 2001

Guest Editorial: Japan Hawksbill Import Ban-Too Early to Rest on Our Laurels!

Todd Steiner
Sea Turtle Restoration Project, Earth Island Institute, 300 Broadway, San Francisco, California 94133 USA

In a recent Marine Turtle Newsletter article, Donnelly (1991) may have painted too rosy a picture of Japan's recent concessions on hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) trade. A number of concerns held by the international environmental community still exist, and were included in a letter to former Prime Minister Kaifu signed by 19 national and international environmental, ecological, and animal protection groups ^[1]. Our major concerns are as follows:

1. The 7,500 kg of turtle parts that Japan plans to import before 1 January 1993 represents at least 7,000 sea turtles which are an internationally recognized endangered species. Their destruction for the manufacture of trinkets is unacceptable. Our experience with gradual phase-outs, such as occurred with elephant ivory, indicates that thousands of animals above the quota will be killed as international traders stockpile the product before the ban goes into effect. We fear that the same will happen with the sea turtles. It is noteworthy that more than 7,500 kg of hawksbill shell inventory already exists, but since most nations with stockpiled shell (such as Indonesia) cannot legally sell it to Japan because they are signatories to CITES, in all likelihood thousands more sea turtles will be taken, probably largely from the waters of Cuba, since that country maintains a "reservation" on hawksbills under CITES. Most importantly, in the real world local turtle hunters will continue to catch turtles as long as they think there is a possibility someone will buy them in the future. Only an immediate halt will end the slaughter.
2. There has been no accounting system established that will prevent future sea turtle products from entering the Japanese market under the claim that they were "pre-ban" products; as a result, sea turtle products may continue to be sold indefinitely. In the case of Mexico, the national ban on sea turtle harvest and trade included an immediate halt of all such trade and an elaborate accounting system of pre-ban products. Why is it that we are content to hold Mexico, a struggling, developing nation, to stricter standards than Japan, one of the richest, most employed nations in the world? We recognize the unique tradition of 'bekko' products in Japan, but we insist that their continued circulation (soon to consist of pre-ban items only) be accompanied by stringent accounting and regulation.
3. We have no real assurances that as July 1994 approaches, a new Japanese administration will not renege on the pledge to stop the trade and once again refuse to withdraw Japanese sea turtle reservations under CITES. The New York Times (18 May 1991) quoted Japan's deputy director of imports to say the ban would be lifted if the turtles showed sufficient recovery. What population parameters will be used to determine "sufficient recovery"? Up to now, Japan has largely refused to accept the scientific recommendations of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the IUCN/SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group, and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In the case of cetaceans, Japan has not yet accepted the decisions of the International Whaling Commission's Scientific Committee. Japan continues to export whale products under the guise of so-called "scientific whaling". Let's hope "scientific turtling" is not next.
4. Despite recent reports that "Japan has announced its intention to drop its [CITES] reservation on the olive ridley turtle, Lepidochelys olivacea" (TRAFFIC 1991), the Sea Turtle Restoration Project of Earth Island Institute has not been able to confirm in any written documents that Japan has committed to dropping its CITES reservation on the endangered olive ridley turtle. It should be noted that Japan stopped importing ridley turtle skins in April 1991 [see MTN 55:5-6] only after Mexico closed down the slaughterhouses that were providing them [see MTN 50:1-3]. Donnelly (1991) and others have documented that much, perhaps more than half, of all hawksbill shell imported into Japan in recent years has been obtained illegally. Japan has historically failed to enforce international wildlife protection laws, and we believe there is a real possibility that Japan will not honor its recent commitments to drop its CITES reservation on the hawksbill in July 1994. We fear that the recent flurry of media exposure, which resulted from the U. S. government's threat to implement trade sanctions against Japan [see MTN 54:1-3; MTN 55:5-6, 14] and Japan's announcement of a phase-out in the import of hawksbill shell, will now dissipate, leaving people believing that the problems have been solved. We must demand a clean break, an immediate end to all sea turtle trade. Even Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan's leading newspapers, in a recent (and rare, in that it openly criticized the government) editorial accused the Japanese government of foot-dragging on the issue of dropping its CITES reservations on species the rest of the world recognizes as threatened with extinction.

The strength of international pressure has compelled and will continue to compel concessions from the Japanese government. This is not the time for our acceptance of half-hearted compromises. We should make it clear that we congratulate the Japanese government for long-awaited concessions, but we should also make it clear that, from our point of view, the only actions acceptable are:

1. an immediate end to the importation of all sea turtle products,
2. an accounting system to ensure that the items remaining in circulation for traditional purposes are made from pre-ban materials only, and
3. an immediate end to CITES reservations on both hawksbill and olive ridley sea turtles.

The next international CITES meeting will be held in March 1992 in Kyoto, Japan. It is too early to pat ourselves on the back and rest on our laurels. Now is the time to write again and encourage Japan to end its sea turtle exploitation immediately and forever. Please write: