Report of the Western Indian Ocean Turtle Excluder Device (TED) Training Workshop.

Abstract

Sea turtles occur in tropical and warm temperate waters all over the world. They inhabit shallow waters along coasts and around islands, but some species are highly migratory and are commonly found in the open sea. During the nesting season, all species naturally return at regular intervals to the beaches on which they were born, where females lay their eggs in a nest dug in the sand. The hatchlings go into the sea to spend the rest of their lives there. After about 30 years, activities on sea turtles. However, a good understanding depending on species, females come back to nest. Traditionally, sea turtles have been held in high esteem as food for people and have been exploited for many years. Both artisanal and commercial fishermen hunt them for their meat, eggs and oil. In Kenya, the main threats to the turtle populations are the artisanal fishermen who hunt them for meat, eggs, shells, leather and oils, and the commercial shrimp fishermen who catch them accidentally (bycatch) in their trawl nets. Though the coastal people used these animals sustainably in the past, today's exploiters are far more numerous, technologies much more sophisticated, and the cultural inhibitions that prevented many people from over-exploiting them have largely died off. Thus the threat to sea turtles is greater than ever.