Sea Turtle Recovery Action Plan for Barbados - WIDECAST

Barbados Sea Turtles …
collecting threatened eggs within 12 hours of being laid and reburying them on quiet beaches. It
is the recommendation of this Recovery Action Plan that vehicular use of beaches be carefully
controlled and vehicles be prevented from driving on beaches above the high tide mark. It is also
recommended that new coastal developments be required to install lighting that minimizes beach
illumination in order to reduce hatchling disorientation and mortality (section 4.132).
4.232 Immature turtles
Present legislation protects immature turtles under 30 lbs (13.6 kg) in weight;
nevertheless, until recently there was a relatively thriving business in preserving and selling
juvenile hawksbills smaller than 30 lbs, apparently in ignorance of legislation protecting these
small animals. Informing businesses of the legislation resulted in the removal of preserved
turtles from display and presumably a decline in this form of exploitation. New legislation that
will result in the protection of all size classes of sea turtles (all species) is currently under
consideration by Cabinet, and it is the recommendation of this Recovery Action Plan that the
proposed legislation be adopted and implemented as soon as possible.
If there is to be a prolonged period prior to the implementation of a ban on sea turtle
harvest, then interim regulations should be considered. The recommendation of this Recovery
Action Plan is that the first choice for interim regulations be a temporary moratorium on sea
turtle harvest, to remain in effect until a complete ban can be implemented. In the event that a
temporary moratorium is not practicable, then the second choice for interim regulations should
be to restrict the harvest to juvenile green and loggerhead sea turtles, and further confine the take
to turtles with a curved carapace length less than 24 inches (60 cm). The harvest of olive ridley,
hawksbill, and leatherback turtles of any size should be forbidden. Olive ridleys and hawksbills
are seriously depleted in the Western Atlantic and no amount of harvest can be justified; as for
leatherbacks, only breeding adults are likely to be encountered.
Turtles are long-lived and may require decades to reach sexual maturity; thus, older
turtles are progressively more valuable to their populations. Any continued harvest can be
assumed harmful to already depleted sea turtle stocks. The harvest of large juveniles and
breeding adults, in particular, will only accelerate population decline and eventual extinction.
4.233 Nesting females
It is estimated that fewer than 1% of the hatchlings that reach the sea will survive to
adulthood. Therefore, nesting females (the producers of eggs) are extremely valuable to the
maintenance and growth of population size. Frazer (1983) calculated that the reproductive value
(or the relative worth) of a loggerhead sea turtle just reaching reproductive age was
approximately 500 times that of an egg. Adult sea turtles represent decades of selective survival.
Sexual maturity is reached at about 20-40 years of age in the Caribbean, depending on the
species. Because mature adults are so difficult for a population to replace, they should receive
the most stringent protection.
Although already protected under existing legislation whilst on, on the way to and on the
way back from the nesting beach, it is necessary for penalties to be increased (section 4.25) and
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