Hawksbills Still Critically Endangered

More than 2,700 items of jewelry made from hawksbill sea turtles were confiscated from local artisans in Costa Rica at the end of 2001. Didiher Chacon of the Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network helped coordinate the operation to rid the local tourist markets of these items. Chacon noted that Costa Rica, a nation that has opposed moves to reopen international commercial trade in hawksbill products, "should set an example by stopping all illegal commerce of hawksbill products within our borders - the open and illegal commerce of hawksbill products in Costa Rica is a shame to our authorities."

Hawksbill sea turtles are found throughout tropical and subtropical areas and have nesting beaches in at least 60 countries and were once killed in large numbers for the international trade in their shells, which were used to make a variety of ornamental "tortoiseshell" objects. Since 1975, hawksbills have been protected fully from international commercial trade by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). This protection has been a vital tool in ensuring their continued survival.

However, the turtles are under constant assault by those who wish to resume profiting by the slaughter of sea turtles and international commercialization of their products. Cuba has proposed to CITES that it again be allowed to trade in hawksbill sea turtle shells (for sale to Japan). Such proposals have so far been defeated, including during the deliberations of the Parties to CITES in 2000.

Failing under CITES' political and scientific processes, traders and profiteers in sea turtles have developed a new tactic: they question the biological status of the species, a key factor used to determine whether a species should have CITES protection. Since 1996, the hawksbill sea turtle has been listed as "Critically Endangered" by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) - a listing status reserved for the world's most endangered species. Recently, those in favor of sea turtle trade challenged this listing. For the first time in its history, the IUCN convened a Standards and Petitions Subcommittee to consider the challenge. The Subcommittee upheld the hawksbill sea turtle listing as "Critically Endangered," noting that there may have been an overall population decline over a period of three generations.

The petitioners are well-known turtle trade advocates, Graham Webb and Nicholas Mrosovsky. Webb works for an Australian-based company, Wildlife Management International, which provides "wildlife management services around the world." Mrosovsky is a physiologist at the University of Toronto, Canada.

No longer can there be any legitimate scientific arguments about the biological status of the species.

Hawksbills clearly require the highest level of protection by CITES and nations throughout Latin America and elsewhere should follow the Costa Rican lead and crack down on the illegal trade in hawksbill sea turtle products.