Tobago's Sea Turtles Are Losers in Paradise

by Patricia Collier

A harsh contradiction darkens the horizon of the otherwise sunny Caribbean island of Tobago.

On October 13, 2003, Tobago was selected by the World Travel Awards in New York City as being "Home to the Best Eco-Destination in the World." On November 13 the island was honored again, this time by the Caribbean Travel Awards Committee in London, as "The #1 Eco-Destination in the Caribbean."

In some areas on this award-winning island, however, mere yards from expensive hotels, visiting beachgoers commonly find the fresh remains of sea turtles; a stark contrast to the pictures painted in the adulation recently bestowed upon the island.

Conservationists said the turtles are not dying of natural causes. They are dying from poaching and from entanglement in fishing lines.

As a result, Tobago has developed a negative reputation in the international environmental community for its lax protection of sea turtles. Animal protection groups such as the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society have campaigned against the killings.

In what seems to be another contradiction, Tobago and other Caribbean nations and territories have participated for several years in a project called the Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network (WIDECAST.) The project rallies conservation action on behalf of six species of "Endangered" and "Critically Endangered" sea turtles found in the areas.

Additionally, Tobago has signed international environmental agreements, including CITIES and The Cartagena Convention (Protection & Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region).

Yet, despite verbal commitments to preserve the sea turtle population, the written words of the Wildlife Laws of Trinidad and Tobago still allow male sea turtles to be taken in the "open" season, October 1 through March 31 - and poachers have been quick to take advantage of this loophole. Local activists said the poachers know the law as well as the lawmakers do.

The leatherback turtle is the most common species found on nesting beaches in Tobago. Green and hawksbill sea turtles are also found on the island. All are listed as endangered species worldwide.

An island conservation group, Save Our Sea Turtles (SOS), estimated that from 2000 to 2002 they buried the mutilated and butchered carcasses of an estimated 15 percent of the entire nesting population of the leatherbacks for that time period on the island.

"Most sea turtles take up to 25 years to reach sexual maturity and they are now dying faster than they can reproduce," SOS officials said.

Additional volunteers to patrol the beaches are needed, as well as serious enforcement of current turtle protection laws. Since Tobago relies on tourism as the main part of its economy, conservationists worldwide believe a continued lack of turtle protection by Tobago may bite the hand that feeds the island and tarnish the glitter on those recent travel awards.

"Sea turtles are just one more critical part of the web of plants and animals that makes Tobago beautiful and unique," reported SOS. "Without this natural abundance and variety we would be living on nothing more than a barren rock in an empty sea with only ourselves for company. With only ourselves to blame."

© 2004 Animal News Center, Inc.