POACHING OF EGGS, MEAT FROM ENDANGERED TURTLES REMAINS MAJOR PROBLEM IN MEXICO.

Mexican environmental authorities are fighting an uphill battle in their efforts to protect endangered marine turtles that inhabit coastal regions on both the Pacific Coast and the Gulf of Mexico.

The seven species of endangered marine turtles

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A report published by the Secretaria de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT) said marine turtles are at risk because of indiscriminate poaching of eggs and the slaughter of hundreds of turtles for their meat and hides. The hide is used to manufacture exotic belts, boots, and purses.

SEMARNAT has attempted to protect the turtles by setting aside special habitats, creating 27 special turtle-protection camps, and imposing stiff fines of up to 2.18 million pesos (US$195,000) for illegal trafficking of turtle eggs, meat, and products manufactured with turtle hides.

Francisco Giner, SEMARNAT's deputy secretary for environmental protection, said President Vicente Fox's administration is expanding the federal turtle-protection program (Programa Nacional para la Proteccion, Conservacion y Manejo de Tortugas Marinas) this year to increase the protected habitat and crack down further on illegal sales of turtle products. Authorities are especially vigilant during those periods when sea turtles emerge from the sea, crawl up the beach, and lay their eggs--a point at which they are extremely vulnerable.

The Fox government has also made some efforts to curb development of tourist resorts proposed for areas that have traditionally been turtle habitats. In 2001, the Fox government withdrew a permit for construction of five hotels near two beaches in Quintana Roo state where loggerhead and green sea turtles were known to breed (see SourceMex, 2001-01-23 and 2001-08-22).

Giner said SEMARNAT has intensified efforts to discourage trafficking of turtle products during the past several years by monitoring public markets and other sites where these items are sold. The agency confiscated about 231,000 turtle eggs in 2003.

A major challenge for environmental authorities, however, is to educate the public about the endangered status of turtles. Consumption of turtle eggs and meat remains high, which has encouraged poaching.

Demand for turtle meat is steady year round but is especially strong in some coastal states like Baja California during the Lenten season, when the Catholic Church asks the faithful to refrain from eating red meat on Fridays. For generations, many Catholics have chosen to eat fish or seafood on Fridays instead of red meat. For many residents of these coastal states, "seafood" includes meat of the caguamas and other species of endangered marine turtles.

The demand during the Lenten season is only a part of the problem. In some coastal communities, turtle eggs and meat are consumed in the mistaken belief that they have aphrodisiac powers. "It was a custom for many years to go to the beach and collect eggs," said Javier Rodriguez, mayor of the coastal community of Petatlan in Guerrero state.

Turtles massacred in Guerrero state

Some environmental activists say affluent Mexicans in some areas are also behind the surge in consumption because turtle meat and turtle eggs are considered delicacies to serve at special functions.

"Turtle meat is the delicacy of delicacies, so [wealthy consumers] hire poachers to bring them eggs and meat, particularly around the resort of Zihuatanejo," said Raul Lopez Osorio, who heads one of the SEMARNAT camps at the San Valentin beach in Guerrero state.

Lopez Osorio said many of these wealthy consumers are state and local officials, who serve the delicacies at weddings and large parties.

Environmental activists say the poachers hired to obtain the turtle products scour beaches in Guerrero on horseback, bicycles, and in four-wheel-drive vehicles seeking areas where turtles have come on shore to nest. When turtles are found, they are frequently hacked to death with machetes and clubs. In some cases, the shells are pried open to remove an abundance of eggs, which the turtles will lay in the sand only if they feel safe.

"It's a very cruel death," said Mario Espinoza Amaro, a member of the San Valentin turtle-protection group. "They cry, shriek like the squawking of birds, and bleed to death."

Local law-enforcement authorities frequently detain the violators, but they are seldom punished. "Police are constantly arresting turtle poachers, but none of these meat and egg traffickers have been held and brought to justice, thanks to corruption among some elements of the [local] police," the daily newspaper Reforma said in a report.

Law-enforcement authorities say the poachers in Guerrero state are heavily armed to protect their turf. "It is difficult to get to San Valentin beach because of the presence of armed people who, in addition to committing other crimes such as drug trafficking, set themselves up to prey on the turtles and their eggs," said Miguel Angel Calzada Adame, who represents the federal environmental prosecutor's office (Procuraduria Federal del Medio Ambiente, PROFEPA) in Guerrero state.

In contrast to the violent poaching methods on San Valentin beach, residents of coastal communities elsewhere in Mexico continue to make a living by simply collecting eggs on the beach. SEMARNAT officials say they are attempting to change this practice by creating programs offering alternate ways of making a living for these residents, many of whom are women and children. In most cases, the residents have been exploited by the intermediaries. "One nest containing 100 to 120 eggs will be sold for 10 pesos (US$0.89)," said Diana Ponce Nava, a PROFEPA prosecutor. "In some markets, three eggs will fetch between 12 and 15 pesos (US$1.07 to US$1.34). [Note: Peso-dollar conversions in this article are based on the Interbank rate in effect on Feb. 4, reported at 11.16 pesos per US$1.00] (Sources: The Herald (Mexico), 01/13/04, 01/21/04; Notimex, 01/12/04, 01/20/04, 01/22/04; Associated Press, 01/20/04, 01/22/04; Reforma, 01/12/04, 01/23/04; Reuters, 02/01/04)