By JENNIFER OLADIPO

The people at the Bay Islands Conservation Association (BICA) are tabulating nests, eggs and return visits as another turtle season comes to a close in Utila.

Turtles visit the island from May until the end of October. BICA has spent more than a decade monitoring turtles and educating islanders and visitors about their importance.

Two types of turtles visit the island. Loggerheads (Caretta caretta) are considered to be threatened. They have been hunted for their shells and for food.

Baby turtles after hatching from the eggs on the shores of Utila’s beaches.

The hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) sea turtle is a small sea turtle that takes its species name from the overlapping plates on its upper shell. Moreover, it takes its common name from the shape of its hooked jaw.

Hawksbills act as biological equalizers, Alejandro Gallo said, eating sea sponges that damage coral if left uncontrolled.

Turtles are also a tourist attraction for travelers from all over the world.

BICA took a different approach to turtle conservation this year.

In the past, BICA gave young turtles to local families to raise for one year. Turtles can only be released into the wild at birth or one year later. These are the only two times they have enough strength or nutrients to make to trip into the ocean.

The project also helped ease the human threat against turtles by encouraging locals to report poachers.

“This was good because it helped raise community awareness,” said Maria Zepeda, BICA biologist.

“It was like taking care of a dog they loved,” said Gallo. “So when they were fishing in the sea and saw a turtle, it reminded them of the one they set free, and they wouldn’t harm it.”

Now BICA is focusing on gathering data on turtles “in situ,” that is, on site. With this method, turtles are left to carry on naturally, with as little human interference as possible. The turtles and nests are tagged and monitored, but never removed from their natural habitat.

While the previous project helped raise awareness, it also interfered with turtles’ manifestation of their natural instincts.

Focus also shifted slightly this year. More emphasis was placed on monitoring migration habits.

“The purpose was to find out exactly how big the population was that comes to Utila,” said Zepeda. “We were estimating about 30.”

They wanted to know how many turtles were born, died and returned this year.

The project saw some setbacks this year, however. Zepeda said such intensive monitoring requires a team of about 17 people who can visit several sites daily. Volunteers worked shifts from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. on beaches such as Pumpkin Hill Beach, Blackish Point and South West Cay.

But BICA did not always have as many volunteers as expected from the foreign agency with which they were working. Occasionally there has been assistance from tourists or university students, but not the regular surveillance needed.

As a result, many monitoring days were missed, so this year’s count may not be accurate. This year, only hawksbill sightings were reported.

Real estate development posed another obstacle for turtles this year. New homes built on their former laying grounds meant some of the sea creatures had no place to return with their eggs. Also, heavy rains this season made it difficult to spot some eggs once they were laid.

BICA plans to try the monitoring project again next year. But they also want to return to their trademark community participation activities, Gallo said. They hope to work with school children and educate all islanders about the importance of the sea turtles.

Gallo said the participation of young volunteers from around the world was, to him, one of the most important aspects of this year’s project.

“The time they spend on the beach waiting for the turtles gives them a moment to think about themselves as human beings, and how, although they are helping the turtles, the animals also have something to teach them. It’s a sort of mutual exchange.”

By Cinthya Flores

World Wildlife Fund Centroamerica

San José, Costa Rica. A new regulation that prohibits shark finning has been hailed by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as “a global Conservation success for controlling overfishing of these vulnerable species.”

The Costa Rican government, biologists, entrepreneurs and conservationists have obtained the approval of an unprecedented regulation to control a type of fishing that, unmanaged, would soon collapse due to the devastating consequences for sharks. It went into effect November 3.

WWF applauds the initiative, saying it represents the beginning of an efficient control system for the fishing of these pelagic or open sea species.

Sharks have been targeted because of the high price their fins bring in international markets, especially in eastern countries, where prices can reach US$ 256 per pound and some US$ 90 per order of shark fin soup.

Now, the fishers that cut shark fins off while at sea will have to come to port with a number of fins that is proportional to the weight of fish on board.

“This will limit the number of fish taken from the sea because the vessels can only carry so many fins in their holds, and now they must also carry the bodies,” said Alvaro Segura, a fisheries manager.

Similar controls were already in place. But now there will be a system of auxiliary fishery inspectors from Costa Rica’s Professional Biologists Organization. They will audit the work of the fishery managers and coordinate tasks with Costa Rica’s Institute for Fishing and Aquaculture (INCOPESCA).

Costa Rica’s effort will help correct the lack of personnel and resources for boat unloading inspections, a deficiency in the previous regulation.

In this case, support from fishery biologist managers will improve fishery administration coverage.

“If extreme controls had been applied, the consequences would have been devastating for the fishery,” said Kathy Tseng, representative of the National Chamber of Long-liners.

“Neither is it right to be extremist saying that the sharks will survive while we fishers starve to death.

The regulation is an efficient way to control and manage the fishery in order to obtain supplies responsibly without harming competitiveness,” she said.

In Costa Rica, the Long-line fleet is responsible for 75 percent of the national catch, compared to 16 percent from coastal fin fishing and eight percent from crustaceans.

Segura said new regulations for unloading will make it easier to learn more about the species, places, seasons and other data that will help lower mortality.

The reporting of unloadings and documentation of species is an important advance of the regulation. The information generated will improve shark conservation.

“We didn’t have this valuable information before, but if we want the shark to continue being a driving factor in the economy and a source of sustenance for many families, we must reduce the threats from over-fishing,” said Moises Mug, WWF Fisheries Officer for Latin America and the Caribbean.

“The fact that detached shark fins can be unloaded along with a percentage of fins to bodies means that the fishery will be controlled using technical standards, which will be adjusted once more information is obtained. This measure brings global progress for the few studies on sharks in Latin America and puts Costa Rica at the forefront,” said Mug.

However, this same standard of weight-to-fin percentages with respect to the weight of shark bodies unloaded has been the object of criticism from other sectors, which do not believe the data acquisition will be effective.

Antonio Porras, organization INCOPESCA’s technical director, defended the standards. He said documentation will force fleets to comply with the established proportions.

“Those who do not comply will not be authorized to market the product and the losses they will incur will obligate them to operate legally if they want to continue participating in the market,” said Porras.

Sectors consulted

The new regulation was developed by INCOPESCA, the fishing industry including the extractive sector, the processing industry, the seafood export sector and fishery biologists from Colegio de Biologos.

“It is unusual to have this kind of consensus in the proclamation and in the implementation of fisheries management measures, making positive progress possible rather than conflict, ” said Mug.

The system will be a model for other countries facing problems with personnel and resources for controlling their fisheries, since the costs will be assumed by the private sector.

In addition to bringing traditionally antagonistic groups together, the new regulation has potential for regional shark management and by-catch reduction, and will also conform to the Food and Agriculture Organization’s International Action Plan for Sharks.

WWF works on a by-catch reduction strategy that involves countries like Ecuador, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, Colombia, Peru and Chile. The information derived from Costa Rica’s system will be a big help.

Sharks are regulators of the marine ecological equilibrium, but they are slow growing and reach sexual maturity late in life, with some of them not starting to reproduce until they are 25 years old. They have few offspring.

“The scientific data that will be obtained as a result of the new shark finning regulation will benefit these vulnerable species that have dominated the seas for more than 400 million years,” said WWF biologist Sandra Andraka.