International trade in raw sea turtle shell
Luxmoore R and Canin J. 1985. International trade in raw sea turtle shell. TRAFFIC Bulletin. 7(2):30-39
All species of sea turtle except the Loggerhead (Caretta caretta) are classified as "Endangered" in the IUCN Amphibia-Reptilia Red Data Book (Groombridge, 1982) and all are listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The latter listing implies that they are "threatened with extinction" and largely prohibits international commercial trade in them between countries party to the Convention. In spite of this, there remains a substantial international trade in sea turtle products and, as Weber et al. (1983) pointed out, "no other group of animals presently protected under Appendix I of CITES is traded more often or in such volume as sea turtles". Numerous authors have stressed the importance of curbing this international trade to ensure the continued survival of sea turtle populations (Mack et al., 1981; Mortimer, 1983; Weber et al., 1983; Carr, 1984-; Meylan, 1984-; Anon., 1984-). Thedangers of attempting to exploit sea turtles have been discussed by Ehrenfeld (Bacon et al., 1984-, p. 14-8). He argued that, because of their extremely long maturation period, the effects of over-exploitation would not necessarily be noticed for many years, possibly not before irreversible damage had been done to the wild populations.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Luxmoore, Richard; Canin, Jeff
- Units
- SFCN
- Keywords
- Conservation, ecological disturbance, Endangered Species, regulations turtle trade, sea turtle trade, turtle shell trade