The pawikan album: The sea turtles captured around Panay and Guimaras Islands, Philippines

Abstract

SEAFDEC FishWorld worked with fishers and government officers to document 93 sea turtles captured by fishing gears along the coasts of Panay and Guimaras Islands, Philippines in 2000-2009: three leatherbacks Dermochelys coriacea (128-150 cm curved carapace length), two loggerheads Caretta caretta (77 cm), 18 olive ridleys Lepidochelys olivacea (47-69 cm), 18 hawksbills Eretmochelys imbricata (20-89 cm), and 52 green turtles Chelonia mydas (30-108 cm). Most green turtles were caught in near shore fish corrals, and most olive ridleys by gill nets and long lines. Of the 18 hawksbills, 2 adults were caught in fish corrals, 3 juveniles were entangled in nets in Iloilo Strait, 6 were pets off our people,and 7 were captives at a turtle feeding station near a known hawksbill nesting site in Lawi, Guimaras. Sixty documented turtles were released, 47 of them with monel or inconel tags of the Pawikan Conservation Project, Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The others died from entanglement, serious injuries, slaughter for market, and diseases. Six female green turtles had multiple fibropapillomas; two died, three were released, and the latest one healed well after the surgical removal of several large tumors and was released. One green turtle brought to FishWorld has advanced shell rot, is unable to submerge, but is doing well on a diet of red seaweed Gracilaria. Three pet hawksbills were retrained for life at sea; one was released after 17 months, another after 57 months, but one is still at FishWorld as Conservation Ambassador. The most important result of FishWorld's work in the past 10 years is that many captured sea turtles were checked for health condition, treated where necessary or possible, tagged, and released back to sea. In addition, data on 93 sea turtles were gathered that can be used in the continuing effort to monitor the locations, risks and threats, health and diseases, and movements of these endangered species.