Distribution and Management of Caribbean Sea Turtles
Rainey W and Pritchard P. Distribution and Management of Caribbean Sea Turtles. Pages 135 - 145. In Thirty-Seventh North American Wildlife Conference. North American Wildlife Conference
People, especially turtle hunters, have recognized for a long time that sea turtle populations were declining in the Caribbean region. Descriptions of the abundance of turtles, especially the green turtle, Chelonia mydas, during the settlement of the West Indies seem almost unbelievable today. Unfortunately, a complex of related factors associated with population growth and economic development in the Caribbean and the burgeoning market for exported turtle products are accelerating the decline year by year. Coordinated action is needed soon if these valuable resources are not to be destroyed. Available distributional data with salient aspects of conservation work in important areas are compiled to give an overview in hopes of stimulating more active regional interest. Five species of sea turtles are known to live in the Caribbean, Lepidochelys olivacea, the olive ridley; Dermochelys coriacea, the leatherback; Caretta caretta, the loggerhead; Eretmochelys imbricata, the hawksbill; and Chelonia mydas, the green turtle, and these are treated in approximate order of increasing economic importance.
- Type
- Conference Proceeding Paper
- Authors
- Rainey, William; Pritchard, Peter
- Units
- SFCN
- Keywords
- Consentration, Count, Habitat, Harvest, hunt, Nesting, Population, region