Western Australian Marine Turtle Project - tagging and observations of marine turtles in W.A. Ongoing, Jurabi coast and Muiron Islands (~20 years since first operation), tag data GIS database pending

Pilbara Sea Turtle program monitoring and tagging.

26th Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation Island of Crete, Greece, 3-8 April 2006. Oral Presentation. The Torres Strait and northern Queensland have the largest population of green turtles in the world. This population supplies a large, internationally-based green turtle harvest, which is currently not managed. In Queensland, successful management will need the involvement of the Indigenous Torres Strait Islanders who use green turtles for cultural, social and economic purposes. This project developed community-based strategies for green turtle catch-monitoring upon which communities could base management plans. I engaged two Torres Strait Island communities in a step-wise process: (1) I obtained support from the Torres Strait Regional Authority; (2) This support enabled me to engage Traditional Owners and Community Councils in each community; and (3) I involved turtle hunters through participatory workshops/meetings. Community members helped me design a datasheet to collect data about hunting behavior needed for co-management. Hunters completed the datasheet after each hunting trip. I assessed the project's success by evaluating the proportion of hunters in the community that participated and the quality of the information they provided. We have one year of data from two communities that actively participate in hunting. Ninety-two and 25% of hunters who signed up from Hammond and Thursday Islands, respectively, handed in datasheets consistently. On Thursday Island, a larger community with a broad social structure, it was more difficult to involve community members in catch-monitoring than on Hammond Island, where there is strong community support for the project. In this paper I discuss culturally appropriate aspects of hunting behavior and catch-monitoring statistics from these two communities. Acknowledgments: Acknowledging project support from: CRC Torres Strait, James Cook University, Department of Environment and Heritage, Ocean Parks Conservation Foundation, Hammond Island Council, TRAWQ Community Council, Kaurareg Traditional Aboriginal Elders Corporation, WNM Community Fisher Group and Prince of Wales Community Fisher Group; Acknowledging travel award support from: Sea Turtle Symposium, Disney Animal Kingdom, Western Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Council, US National Marine Fisheries Service, and US Fish and Wildlife Service.

To determine the long-term population levels and trends of the loggerhead turtle population nesting at Turtle Bay, Dirk Hartog Is. Volunteers were used to assist with observations of turtle nesting and egg laying, and assist with tagging of loggerhead turtles each night for six nights. The sandy beaches of Turtle Bay, at the northern end of Dirk Hartog Island, are among the few key WA nesting sites for the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta). (The nesting sites are very close to Cape Inscription). The species is considered the most endangered turtle that nests in the Australian region and is declared threatened under the WA Wildlife Conservation Act.

Satellite tags were deployed on kemps ridley and loggerhead turtles to assess dive behavior to improve estimates of abundance in aerial surveys

Monitoring, identification & counting tracks made by nesting turtles, nesting success and impact of humans, around Cemetery Beach, Pretty Pool Beach & Eighty Mile Beach (Caravan Park & Anna Plains Station).

This long-standing marine turtle tagging program monitors numbers of nesting flatback turtles on Cowrie Beach on Mundabullangana Station. New and remigrant nesting turtles are tagged and data (carapace measurements, egg counts etc) are collected. Data are sent to DEC's Science Division in Woodvale. DEC Pilbara Region produces basic summary reports to meet DEC Animal Ethics Committee requirements. These are held at the DEC office in Karratha.

This long-standing marine turtle tagging program monitors numbers of nesting green turtles on John Wayne Beach on the west coast of Barrow Island. New and remigrant nesting turtles are tagged and data (carapace measurements, egg counts etc) are collected. Data are sent to DEC's Science Division in Woodvale. DEC Pilbara Region produces basic summary reports to meet DEC Animal Ethics Committee requirements. These are held at the DEC office in Karratha.

This long-standing marine turtle tagging program monitors numbers of nesting hawksbill turtles on beaches 1-7 on Rosemary Island in the Dampier Archipelago. Beach 6 is the index beach. New and remigrant nesting turtles are tagged and data (carapace measurements, egg counts etc) are collected. Data are sent to DEC's Science Division in Woodvale. DEC Pilbara Region produces basic summary reports to meet DEC Animal Ethics Committee requirements. These are held at the DEC office in Karratha.

This study trialled community-based catch-monitoring strategies for dugongs and green turtles in two communities (Hammond and Thursday Islands) in the Kaiwalagal region (inner islands) of Torres Strait. Hunters completed datasheets after each hunting trip and these were collected weekly by Indigenous catch-monitors employed on the project. The catch-monitoring program was evaluated in terms of the reliability of the informaition collected and the suitability of the method to the communities. The information collected included biological information about the composition of the catch (e.g. sex ratio, size distribution, reproductive status), selectivity of the green turtle catch, catch-effort, catch-gear and the uses for which dugongs and turtles were hunted. The participating communities can use the information in future management of dugongs and green turtles in their communities.