Sea Turtle Recovery Action Plan for Barbados - WIDECAST

CEP Technical Report No. 12
may be harder to catch because they are not approaching and departing from nesting beaches, nor
are they mating at the water's surface. Thus, during the season when pelagic fish such as flying
fish (Hirundichthys affinis) and dolphin fish (Coryphaena hippurus) become abundant, fishermen
concentrate on this more profitable fishery rather than on sea turtles.
Very few fishermen, if any, are dependent on the turtle fishery for their primary
livelihood. No reliable records of turtle landings at fish markets have ever been kept, again
suggesting that the turtle fishery was never considered important. At the present time, the
majority of turtles are probably captured illegally whilst laying eggs on the beach. Certainly a
high proportion of hawksbills observed nesting by the public is killed annually (15-22%, section
2.4). Consistent with a lack of economic dependence of Barbadians on sea turtles, there is a
general lack of superstitions or traditions associated with sea turtles when compared to other
islands in the region. This lack of dependence, combined with the high literacy rate in Barbados,
may make conservation of sea turtles in Barbados relatively easier than in some other parts of the
region.
II. STATUS AND DISTRIBUTION OF SEA TURTLES IN BARBADOS
2.1 Caretta caretta, Loggerhead Sea Turtle
There are no indigenous common names applied to this species and the preferred name is
loggerhead. The loggerhead turtle is recognized by its large head, thick, somewhat tapered
carapace (=shell), brown and gold or reddish-brown colouration, and characteristically heavy
encrustation of invertebrate epifauna (especially barnacles). There are typically five pairs of
lateral scutes on the carapace (Figure 1). The large head and strong jaws, for which the species
was named, are necessary adaptations to a diet of mollusks and hard-shelled crabs; tunicates,
fishes, and plants are also eaten (Dodd, 1988). Adults attain a straight-line carapace length of
120 cm (nuchal notch to posterior tip) and weigh up to 200 kg (Pritchard et al., 1983).
The species has a wide oceanic distribution. In the Atlantic Ocean individuals have been
sighted as far north as Newfoundland (Squires, 1954) and northern Europe (Brongersma, 1972)
and as far south as Argentina (Frazier, 1984). Nesting grounds are often located in temperate
latitudes, with the greatest numbers of nesting females recorded on the Atlantic coast of Florida
(USA) and on the shores of Masirah Island, Oman. Nesting is also reported from various islands
of the Greater and Lesser Antilles (although firm records are not always available), the
Caribbean coasts of Mexico and Central America, and the Atlantic coast of South America from
Venezuela to Brazil, as summarized by Dodd (1988).
Loggerheads are not known to nest in Barbados, but juveniles (one weighed 32 kg) and
adults or near-adults (one measured 83 cm straight carapace length) are occasionally caught
opportunistically offshore by pelagic fishermen. These turtles are usually speared by the
fishermen as they wait for their gill nets to fill (see section I). The meat is eaten whenever
available. Foraging grounds have not been identified. Neither spatial nor temporal patterns of
distribution are known. Population estimates are not available. The species is considerably rarer
than either the green turtle or the hawksbill.
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