The Effect Of Harvesting
Sea Turtle Eggs

Harvesting of sea turtle eggs has provided a food source for indigenous peoples throughout history but with an ever increasing human population the stress on many turtle populations is reaching breaking point. Eggs are very nutritious, easy to collect and free.

Population Crashes

Harvesting of nests has contributed to spectacular crashes in the numbers of nests being laid over the past 20 years. For example, on one Leatherback nesting beach in Mexico, there were 6,500 nests recorded in 1986, but only 50 by 1993. Meanwhile in Costa Rica, several important beaches for the same species have shown a decline in total numbers of nests being laid from 1367 in 1988 to as low as 69 in 2002. This is mostly the result of sea turtle egg harvesting that was taking place several decades before the 1980s.

While drops in nesting numbers such as these have spurred conservation efforts and have indeed brought about action at the highest levels of government in some countries, it is very possible that such action has come too late for these devastated populations.

Lots Of Hatchlings Needed

Why is this the case? Hatchling turtles take at least 20 to 30 years to mature, longer for the larger species. During this time almost all the young turtles are eaten by other animals or now fall victim to pollution. Although exact figures are impossible to obtain, it is thought that approximately one hatchling in a thousand survives to adulthood.

That means it's crucial for sea turtle populations to have large numbers of hatchlings entering the system in order to be maintained. Harvesting eggs is like a white ant infestation; there is no visible damage until the whole structure collapses. Once the now-adult females are too old to breed or are killed off, there will be no replacements for them.

Slow Recovery

This means that drops in numbers like those mentioned above are most likely permanent and that the best we can hope for is a very slow recovery in numbers over at least 50 to 100 years. That's assuming that there is 100% protection of nests and that there are no lapses in the conservation efforts, even through periods where there are no turtles nesting at all. It is almost certain that populations which have suffered declines like those above will soon face one or more seasons of zero nesting females.

Some methods of helping populations recover faster are being trialed, such as headstarting hatchlings and breeding turtles in captivity. Efforts like these are commendable but require vast amounts of time and money to work continouosly. Their long term effectiveness is not known.