Slaughter of marine turtles in some areas on the rise
Olive Ridleys return, strange markings seen

By Miranda La Rose
Stabroek News Guyana
http://www.stabroeknews.com
29/06/00

The slaughter of endangered marine turtles for human consumption is on the increase this year at Gwenie Beach on the Moruca Coast, while the number recorded nesting at Kamwatta Beach has soared 20 times over the number recorded for last year.

Gwenie Beach also known as `Papaya Beach' and Kamwatta Beach are among several found on the 90-mile stretch of coastline from the mouth of the Pomeroon River to the Waini River, known as Shell Beach.

In view of the slaughter of the turtles for consumption, the Guyana Marine Turtle Conservation Society (GMTCS) is holding extensive discussions among its members and other interested parties on ways to assist local fishermen displaced by the three-month ban on net fishing in the turtles' nesting areas. It is also looking at the start-up of "alternative meat" and handicraft projects which could provide acceptable solutions for the provision of protein diets for those who consume the meat, GMTCS Secretary Annette Arjoon told Stabroek News.

Meanwhile, three of the Olive Ridley species, which had not nested at Shell Beach for the past three years and which it was feared were becoming extinct at Shell Beach, have nested there. In addition, a number of turtles with different forms of identification were also found nesting at Shell Beach.

Speaking about the Olive Ridley find, James said that one of the three nests found was poached. The poached nest was at Peter's Beach, some seven miles from Almond Beach. The other two nests were undisturbed and at present some 400 Olive Ridley eggs are in the hatchery at Kamwatta. The hatch rate for the eggs is around 80%. Depending on the temperature the eggs would take between 50 to 60 days to hatch.

Mortality rate
Though no figure could be given for the number of turtles slaughtered for human consumption it was estimated that for every hunter the catch would be two to three turtles. Since the nesting season began in early February it is believed that over 100 turtles would have died as a result of hunting.

While Chief Ranger at Shell Beach, Audley James expressed some joy that this nesting season is "the biggest we have witnessed since we started the conservation project in 1988," he expressed sadness that "the mortality rate is also very high." He noted that this season over 40 dead turtles with either their flippers or heads chopped off by fishermen at sea washed ashore. During last week, "in two days alone", seven dead Leatherbacks washed ashore, he said. The ban on fishing, using nets parallel to nesting beaches, has come to an end. The ban imposed by the Ministry of Fisheries, Crops and Livestock, in the wake of the slaughter of a number of female turtles earlier in the year was for the months of April, May and June which were considered the peak season. The season is expected to come to an end in August.

In one night, the seven rangers based at the conservation camp at Kamwatta and volunteers tagged 57 turtles. They ran out of tags and had to send back to the base to get more. However, James said, "we observed 65 crawls in one night on just one beach this season." Usually the turtles nest only in the day but he has observed them even in daylight crawling onto the beaches to nest.

However, he said that logistically it was difficult to monitor all the beaches in one night because the rangers had only one boat and only two and a half miles were patrolled at night when nesting takes place. Kamwatta Beach, the major nesting beach, is closely monitored. Identification marks In relation to turtles found with tags which bore identification marks different from the local marks, James said that one carried a `T' serial which the rangers never saw before. Other turtles with strange markings also bore `V' notches, probably an identification mark and little circles under the fore flippers, believed to have come from a plastic tag which was pressed into the flippers leaving an indentation even after the tag would have rotted. Some turtles had little holes in the rear flippers where tags had been placed and which were not the usual local identification. The local rangers tag either the right or left fore flippers. James said they were trying to find out where the turtles bearing the strange ID marks came from.

James believes after working "so hard for 12 years... that the increase [in nesting] is the result of conservation. The backs of the Leatherback indicate that they are very young." Most of the turtles nesting were the Giant Leatherback. According to James, the Green, Olive Ridley and Hawksbill reach maturity in 20 to 35 years, while the Leatherback takes from eight to 12 years.

James, a former turtle hunter, was converted to a conservationist by biologist and turtle conservationist Dr Peter Pritchard during the turtle nesting season in 1988 when he had gone hunting turtles at Shell Beach. His son, Romeo De Freitas, who joined him a year later recalled that in 1988 a number of turtles were saved. While people were hunting turtles Dr Pritchard, James and a third person Compton Mansingh from Barama Mouth made an agreement with turtle hunters that those they tagged would be saved and those not tagged could be hunted. They were all on the beach hunting and tagging side by side. James, Dr Pritchard and Mansingh "had to work like crazy to tag the turtles."

Crawls
James and De Freitas spoke with Stabroek News at the uninhabited Tiger Island in the Essequibo River on Saturday night where a number of Greens nested. However the eggs were believed to have been taken away by iguana hunters.

Commenting on the significant increase in nesting and the slaughter, James said that "we had over 1,800 crawls recorded at Kamwatta Beach up to [last weekend] though the number would have been significantly higher." At Gwenie Beach, he said, many turtles had been "slaughtered there by the people from the Moruca Coast and the communities of Manawarin, Waramuri, Hymaracabra and Santa Rosa in Moruca." People around Kamwatta and Almond beaches would take some eggs but they did not slaughter the turtles, he said.

In the communities along the Moruca River, James said, he had received reports that people were "blatantly selling the eggs and the meat in the shops and on the road." An egg is sold at $20 and the meat, between $140 to $160 a pound.

A Supenaam businessman, who facilitated a patrol for ranger Donald James also known as `Uncle Dan', along the sea coast and at Gwenie Beach last Thursday and Friday, told Stabroek News that they stopped at Kamwatta, Gwenie and other beaches where a number of hunters had set up their camps but they ran away when they arrived. The ranger checked for turtle eggs and meat.

Cut-up turtle meat At Gwenie Beach where there were several camps, the businessman, who prefers anonymity said, "everyone ran away except for a woman and three children. Cut-up turtle meat was drying in the sun. We told her that what she and the others were doing was against the law. She said that her husband were walking on the beach and he found the turtle with a flipper damaged by a seine. It could not live so he killed it."

Further down the beach there were other campers who also ran and hid in the bushes. Salted turtle meat, including the yellow unlaid eggs, were drying in the sun. "We saw some other guys and told them that killing the turtles were illegal. I could see they were afraid because they knew what they were doing was wrong."

James travelled to Gwenie Beach on Sunday to monitor and assess the slaughter. He was accompanied by his son Romeo, two members of the Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard and a number of volunteers from Youth Challenge Guyana. From Gwenie Beach where they were due to spend a night or two, they would visit the beaches along the way until they arrived at Almond Beach which is the base for the conservation programme.

Responding to allegations that the movement of turtles nesting from one beach to the next was because of a generator lighting up Almond Beach, Arjoon said that was untrue. She said that Almond Beach had become a poor nesting area due to erosion of the beach and accretion in other areas. There is also a build up of mud-flats which makes it difficult for the turtles to crawl over. She noted that 35 years ago Kamwatta Beach had eroded and the nesting ground shifted to Almond Beach. Thirty-five years later it has come full circle. The built up beaches are now at Kamwatta, Luri, Iron Punt and Gwenie.

She also said that the rangers had no generator at Almond Beach but use low solar bulbs which get energy from some small solar panels. The rangers also use kerosene lamps.