Transcript
RICHARD HAMILTON: So I guess when we tagged the turtles there was several things we really wanted to establish. First of all we wanted to know whether or not the critically endangered hawksbill turtles when they are nesting in the Arnavons in the Solomon Islands. Whether or not they stayed within the protected area the whole time. Because any one turtle will nest five to six times in one season and there is about a two week period between each successive nesting event. So we really wanted to know if the protected areas were sufficient. And then of course the other really interesting point was to get an idea of where these turtles returned to once they had finished nesting. So there migration routes back to their feeding or foraging grounds.
KOROI HAWKINS: And did they spend enough time in the protected areas?
RH: Yeah actually they did that was a very positive outcome of the research. Probably about, you know, all the turtles summarised together spent about 95 percent of their time within the protected area boundaries. So that was a really positive finding and I think really demonstrates that if we can get poaching totally under control in that Arnavons group then the numbers should continue to improve.
KH: So you said you are tracking their migratory routes, how far are they travelling?
RH: Ah well that was another surprising finding. We had eight turtles which survived, two were killed by poachers. Of the eight that survived seven of them had migrated back to the Torres Straits and the Southern and Northern Great Barrier Reefs. So travelling over distances over distances of over 2000 kilometres in six to seven weeks. So really large distances. And somehow that sort of explains the very long remigration period we have in the Arnavons most of these turtles will not return to nest again for another five to seven years.They are probably fattening up before they make that long journey. Back to the Arnavons for another nesting season.
KH: You mentioned poaching there is that a big problem? And where are the markets for that?
RH: Poaching, you know it sort of simmers on and off. It has become a bit of a problem more so in recent years and we believe that is probably being driven by a growing demand for illegally purchased hawksbill products. Probably mainly out of mainland China. So there is buyers in Honiara now which are paying reasonable prices for this hawksbill shell and we think it is probably being re-exported out of the country. And there is also a smaller trade I think in the production of local items like bracelets and hairclips etcetera which are sold to tourists in that trade.
KH: So in terms of the marine protected area size are they being patrolled? Is that something that needs to be lifted?
RH: They are being patrolled there are rangers based there permanently but in the past they have all been based at one island known as Kerihepapa, which historically had the highest number of nesting. But now most of the nesting is happening at Sikopo. So one of the things we are in the process of doing is building another ranger station at Sikopo and since April there have been rangers based on Sikopo. But they are essentially camping under a piece of canvas. That is not really suitable going forward.
KH: So looking at, again at their migratory routes, they are spending most of their adult life in the Australian waters is that right?
RH: Yeah so a lot of these turtles they are born in the Arnavons in the Solomons between Isabel and Choiseul province. They will spend about five years floating around in the open ocean which they often refer to as the lost years. And then when they are five or seven they will settle, they call it, onto a reef where they will then spend a large portion of their time feeding. And then you know when they are hitting sexual maturity 30 to 35 years of age they will swim back to their natal beaches where they were born and then breed and nest. So yeah, a lot of the turtles that we have seen about 88 percent of them are born in the Solomons but spending, you know probably 90 to 95 percent of their life actually in Australian waters. And I guess that is an interesting component of the story is that what we are seeing here is recovery in the Arnavons which we documented last year because they are moving from protected area to protected area essentially.
KH: Right and their spending all that time in Australian waters must be good for them as well being more protected and probably less poaching would there be in Australia?
RH: Well certainly in large areas of The Great Barrier Reef, yeah for sure. I know there is a traditional take in some places in the Torres Straits but certainly. And I think what we are seeing and more regionally is that although the nesting hawksbill populations in Australia are highly protected they do appear to be in decline and that is probably because of the reverse picture. Whereby you have turtles which are nesting in the Great Barrier reef and highly protected but they are spending most of their life feeding in Melanesian waters where they are subjected to quite heavy hunting pressure.
KH: Right so from the whole exercise what are some of your recommendations or what are you drawing from your findings?
RH: Well I guess there is several and you know turtles certainly play to the need to manage local national and regional scales. At the national scale I think the information has been very valuable I think it has shown the need in the Arnavons protected area to increase enforcement and have a permanent local community ranger presence on Sikopo island which is now also a very important nesting beach. It has also shown that the current protected areas are sufficient and I think that is an interesting point. And the Arnavons is also and area which is going towards becoming the first protected area under the Solomon Islands protected areas act. So that is all really, really positive. In terms of the migration I think it just highlights the difficulties in managing these highly migratory shared resources. So a lot of these turtles are migrating out of the Solomons and then passing through Papua New Guinea and then dropping down into Australia. So it really does sort of highlight the need to have some sort of regional agreements and regional management measures which aren't just site based for these species.
