Marine Turtle Newsletter 74:S1-2, © 1996
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Marine Turtle Newsletter 74:S1-2, © 1996
The Marine Turtle Newsletter (MTN) is 20 years old this month, having been inaugurated in August 1976 by Dr. Nicholas Mrosovsky at the University of Toronto (Ontario, Canada). Anniversaries tend to invoke introspection, and this one is no different! The newsletter has seen tremendous growth over the course of the last two decades, with English and Spanish editions delivered quarterly to more than 2000 readers in more than 1 10 nations and territories around the world. The continued expansion in readership is great, but it also raises an issue that we all need to consider - namely, cost! The newsletter's aims, as articulated in the premier issue, are:
We are committed to these objectives, which, in practice, demand timely distribution and global access. Both are costly to attain.
For those unfamiliar with the history of the MTN, let's review why the newsletter was initiated. In the mid-1970's, as it became clear that sea turtles were endangered throughout most of their global ranges, scientists and managers struggled to design and implement research and conservation programs with very limited knowledge of sea turtle biology. There was no doubt that survival prospects would be enhanced by the international and timely sharing of ideas and methodologies. Dr. Mrosovsky designed the MTN to be an informal publication to serve the needs of a growing research community. He opened the charter issue with these remarks: "Efforts are going on all over the world to save marine turtlesfrom extinction. Marine turtles are widely distributed and their migrations take them across international boundaries. These facts complicate both arriving at an understanding of their biology and devising the necessary measures for their conservation. Given this situation, the authorities at IUCN and the members of the IUCN Marine Turtle Specialist Group felt that better communication between workers in different parts of the world was needed."
By 1980, recipients included colleagues in 70 countries. In August 1984, an Index to past issues was compiled illustrating the depth and breath of the newsletter's coverage of contemporary issues, research and survey results, and conservation techniques. Circulation had climbed to more than 800, with readers in some 80 countries. Many topics first aired in the newsletter had been taken up by other media, spreading the news about the dire circumstances facing many of the world's remaining sea turtle populations. In November 1984, Dr. Nathaniel Frazer took the helm and noted in his opening editorial that, "Under [Dr. Mrosovsky's] editorship, the MTN became a source document of inestimable value to all who study sea turtles - so much so that it is difficult to believe that anyone could ever hope to maintain a current understanding of sea turtle biology and conservation without regularly reading the MTN."
We came on board as co-Editors in November 1988 and established a Spanish edition, "Noticiero de Tortugas Marinas" (NTM), in early 1990. Making the newsletter available in Spanish had long been requested by the growing Latin American research community. The newsletter remains the foremost means of information-sharing on matters of import to sea turtles, the habitats upon which they depend, and the human communities that depend on the sea turtles. Readership continues to increase, and the MM/NTM is now read in virtually every country of the world. The annual budget is about $28,000 - $1 1,000 in printing, $1 1,000 in mailing, $4000 for translation services (NTM), and $2000 for supplies. In recent years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has contributed nearly one-half of the budget ($12,000 per year). The balance has been met by the kindness of other donors and readers, each of whom is credited at the end of each issue.
Dr. Richard Byles, FWS National Sea Turtle Coordinator and MTN benefactor, has left the Service and the future of the office he held is uncertain. As a result, we can no longer depend on the support of FWS. In the short-term, the U. S. National Marine Fisheries Service may come to the rescue; alternatively, the MTN/NTM will be suspended until other sources of support are identified. The issue, however, is not the loss of a specific donor, as painful as that is, but the question of how to establish the MTN/NTM on solid financial footing into the next century. We are often asked why we don't initiate a subscription fee. The simple answer is that we are full to capacity (and beyond!) with the demands of a 12-week production cycle, related (and some not-so-related) correspondence directed to the Editorial office, fund raising, annual reports, financial statements, etc. To maintain subscribing members, even just within the U. S. (so we only had to deal with one currency!), would irreparably compromise our sanity.
In lieu of a subscription service, we'd like to see how much mileage we can gain from the simple act of letting you know that four issues (one year) of the MTN/NTM costs US$ 14.00 to print and mail. The math is simple: $28,000/2000 readers = $14/reader. Roughly half (45 %) of our readers are within the U. S. So, if every U. S. reader contributed $20.00 per year (and those of you who routinely donate more would continue to do so!), all expenses would be met. Alternatively, we could "publish" the MTN on a Web Page on the internet and let you "download" (print) it if you wanted to archive a hard copy. That would theoretically eliminate all printing and mailing costs! In reality, however, we must remember that many readers live in parts of the world where the internet is neither accessible nor likely to be free. And even assuming that all U. S. readers could access the newsletter from the internet, which, of course, if far from the truth, the financial savings are not large. The cost of printing would decline, but since less than 5 % of the budget is allocated to U. S. postage, mailing costs would remain high.
In the end, we will pursue multiple avenues. We will establish a Web Page (and hope that those of you who are willing to access this format will remove your names from the mailing list), we will reformat the printed copy to use space more efficiently, and we will hope that each of you will make a private assessment of how much the MTN/NTM means to you. If it holds value, we urge you to contribute meaningfully every year to the cost of production. This would not only keep the newsletter afloat, but it would measurably ease the burden of fund raising and eliminate the need for a membership officer. Finally, if you can live without the newsletter, we hope you'll let us remove you from the mailing list! We continue to enjoy the development of the MTN/NTM each quarter, and we hope that it serves you well. - KLE/SAE