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ArapidassessmentonthetradeinmarineturtlesinIndonesia,MalaysiaandVietNam

FinalReport

December2018

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ACKNOWLEDGEMNTS TRAFFICexpressesitssinceregratitudetothefollowingforsupportingthisresearch:Indonesia

• RonaldLilley• BKSDA(NatureConservationAgency)inBali,WestJava,EastJava,Makassar• PakMadeKanta,SarahMelaniaandDodi(BaliTurtleConservationandEducationCentre,

SeranganIsland)• IWayanWiradnyanaandPakAgung(BaliSeaTurtleSociety)• HarfiandriDamanhuri(HeadoftheTurtleInforamationCentreinUniversitasBungHatta,

Padang)• PROFAUNA-Regionaloffices(Java,Kalimantan,Sulawesi)• DrMirzaDKusrini(DepartmentofForestResourcesConservation&EcotourismFacultyof

Forestry,BogorAgriculturalUniversity,WestJava)• DewiDamayanti,Bali• KhalisDwi(MarineScienceDepartmentPadjadjaranUniversity,Bandung,WestJava)• RetnoKusumaNingrum,Bali• MonikaRuwaimana• DanielaB.Cavallini• MaggieMuurmans,PulauBanyak,NorthSumatra• NurMasyithaNurdin(ConservationandBiodiversityAnalystsofBPSPLSatkerMakassar)• AndiMuhammadIshakYusma(HeadofProgramandEvaluationSectionofBPSPLSatker

Makassa• Mr.EdiandMrsMutmainah(BKSDAMakassar)

MuhammadAmin(HeadSectionof1stRegionofGAKKUM(BalaiPenegakanHukum)KLHKMakassar)

Malaysia• SEAlutions• DepartmentofFisheriesMalaysia• SandakanMunicipalCouncil(In-personinterviewwasconductedwiththeCouncil’sHeadof

EnforcementUnit)• WWFMalaysia(GavinJolis)• KudatTurtleConservationSociety• UniversityMalaysiaTerengganuresearchers

VietNam

• IntelligentMedia• EducationforNature-VietNamforprovidingtheirmarketsurveyinformationforthisstudy• MinistryofAgricultureandRuralDevelopment• DirectorateofFisheries

GlennSant,LaurenLopes,RichardThomas,RosaIndenbaum,SarahFerguson,ThomasinaOldfield,ChristineHoff,CMS,arethankedforreviewingearlierdraftsofthereport.AqeelaAbdulJalilisthankedfordevelopingthegraphicsandmapsusedinthereport.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVESUMMARY..........................................................................................................5

1. OBJECTIVESOFTHESTUDY..........................................................................................9

2. BACKGROUNDANDHISTORYOFMARINETurtleTRADEINTHESOUTHEASTASIAANDTHECORALTRIANGLE..................................................................................................9

2.1 MarineturtletradeinIndonesia,MalaysiaandVietNam.......................................................10

3. POLICYANDLEGALFRAMEWORK..............................................................................133.1 GlobalandRegionalFrameworks............................................................................................133.1.1 IndianOceanSoutheastAsianMarineTurtleMemorandumofUnderstanding(IOSEAMarine

TurtleMoU)...................................................................................................................................13

3.1.2 MemorandumofUnderstandingonASEANSeaTurtleConservationandProtection(ASEANMoU).............................................................................................................................................15

3.1.3 MemorandumofAgreementbetweentheGovernmentoftheRepublicofthePhilippinesandtheGovernmentofMalaysiaontheEstablishmentoftheTurtleIslandsHeritageProtectedArea(TIHPAMoU).................................................................................................................................15

3.1.4 CoralTriangleInitiativeonCoralReefs,FisheriesandFoodSecurity(CTI-CFF)............................16

3.2 NationalLegislation................................................................................................................173.2.1 Indonesia.......................................................................................................................................17

3.2.2 Malaysia........................................................................................................................................18

3.2.3 VietNam.......................................................................................................................................21

4. METHODS..................................................................................................................224.1 Seizureanalysis......................................................................................................................234.2 Marketsurveys.......................................................................................................................244.3 Onlinesurveys........................................................................................................................27

5. RESULTS....................................................................................................................285.1 MarineTurtleSeizures............................................................................................................285.1.1 SeizureRecordsandCommoditiesSeized....................................................................................28

5.1.2 HotspotsandRoutes.....................................................................................................................32

5.2 PhysicalMarketandOnlineSurveys.......................................................................................385.2.1 Indonesia.......................................................................................................................................38

5.2.2 Malaysia........................................................................................................................................41

5.2.3 VietNam.......................................................................................................................................42

6. DISCUSSION...............................................................................................................446.1 DomesticTradeDynamics.......................................................................................................446.1.1 Indonesia.......................................................................................................................................44

6.1.2 Malaysia........................................................................................................................................48

6.1.3 VietNam.......................................................................................................................................53

6.2 LegalInternationalTradeTransactions...................................................................................546.3 IllegalInternationalTrade.......................................................................................................57

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6.3.1 Indonesia................................................................................................................................576.3.2 Malaysia.................................................................................................................................586.3.3 VietNam................................................................................................................................596.4 ConservationImpactandManagementofMarineTurtles......................................................606.4.1 Indonesia.......................................................................................................................................60

6.4.2 Malaysia........................................................................................................................................61

6.4.3 VietNam.......................................................................................................................................63

7 CONCLUDINGREMARKSANDRECOMMENDATIONS..................................................647.1 Recommendations..................................................................................................................65

8 REFERENCES..............................................................................................................68

AnnexI:NestingandForagingGroundsinMalaysia...........................................................72

AnnexII:SeizuredataandsummaryforSabahbetween1999and2017.............................74

AnnexIII:ListofstakeholdersconsultedinIndonesia,MalaysiaandVietNamin2018.......76

Annex IV: Seizure data for Indonesia,Malaysia andVietNambetween January 2015 andAugust2018..............................................................................................................78

AnnexV:MarineTurtleHatcheryinformationforIndonesia2018......................................86

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Six speciesofmarine turtlesare found inSoutheastAsia. Generally,all six speciesareprotectedorregulatedbynationallawsacrosstheregion.Furthermore,allmarineturtlespecies(FamilyCheloniidaeand Dermochelys coriacea) are listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade inEndangeredSpeciesofWildFaunaandFlora(CITES),whichprohibitstheinternationaltradeofmarineturtles,theirpartsandderivativesforcommercialpurposes.ThesespeciesarealsolistedonAppendicesI and II of the Convention on migratory species of wild animals, meaning that the Parties to theConvention including Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam among other countries in the region havecommittedtostrictprotectionofthesespeciesandtoreducingthreatstotheirsurvivalbothnationallyandthroughinternationalcooperation.Thesecountriesarealsoamongthe35SignatoryStatestotheMemorandumofUnderstanding on the Conservation andManagement ofMarine Turtles and theirHabitats of the Indian Ocean and South-East Asia the goal of which is to enhance internationalcooperationontheconservationofmarineturtles.Despitetheseefforts,marineturtlescontinuetobeillegally exploited for trade and consumption,which is considered to be a threat to remainingwildpopulationsalreadyatriskfromarangeofreasonsincludingcontinuedhabitatdegradation,pollutionofthemarineenvironment,by-catchanddisease.This study was undertaken to document the current scale of trade in marine turtles in Indonesia,Malaysia and Viet Nam. Legislation and protectionmeasures are varied in the three countries. InIndonesiaandVietNam,thetradeinmarineturtle,partsandproductsisgenerallyprohibited,thoughvarious gaps and conflicts in themany regulations can pose a complication to controlmeasures. InMalaysiahowever,tradeineggsislegalisedinPeninsularMalaysiathroughlicensedcollectionbytheDepartmentofFisheriesintherespectivestates,butanytradeinmarineturtles,partsandproductsisprohibitedinthestatesofSabahandSarawakonMalaysianBorneo.Allthreecountrieshoweverhavebeenpreviouslyidentifiedasplayingakeyroleintheillegaltradeofmarineturtlesthatfeedsbothadomesticaswellasaninternationalmarketdemand.A2015reportontheIllegalTakeandTradeofMarineTurtlesintheIndianOceanandSoutheastAsianRegion(IOSEA)thatwasundertakenforthe66thCITES Standing Committee meeting (SC66), reinforced conservation concerns regarding theinternationaltraffickingofmarineturtles.Thisstudybuiltonthe informationpresented inCITESdocumentforSC66,andexploredthecurrenttradedynamicsonmarineturtlesinvolvingthethreecountries.ItencompassedrapidsurveysofphysicalmarketsinselectedlocationsinIndonesia,MalaysiaandVietNam(conductedfromJanuary–July2018),rapidsurveysofonlinemarkets(conductedfromJuly–August2018)aswellasananalysisofseizuredata from2015 toAugust2018. Key locationswerevisited ineach countryencompassingmarkets,souvenirshops,nestingbeachesandturtlehatcheries.Thestudyalsoinvolvedstakeholderengagementwithgovernments,NGOs,researchersandconservationpractitionersworkingonmarineturtlesinthesethreecountries. Itfurtherexaminesthereportedtrade(basedonCITEStradedatafrom2000-2017)and illegal trade (based on seizures,market surveys and online surveys) taking place; and excludestraditional/cultural take aswell as legal harvest or accidental killing ofmarine turtles during fishingoperations.Theanalysisof results revealed that the illegal trade inmarine turtlespersists in all three countriesalthoughthereappearstobeashiftfromopenavailabilitytomoreundergroundmarkets.OpentradeinphysicalmarketssurveyedwaslimitedparticularlyinIndonesiaandMalaysia.Despitethis,itisclearIndonesiaremainsanimportantsourceandconsumercountrysupplyingdemandforeggsandmeatas

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well as trade in marine turtle shells (either in processed – jewellery, souvenirs, taxidermied orunprocessedforms–rawpieces).SeizuresanddiscussionswithstakeholdersinIndonesiaconfirmthatpoaching, consumption and trade is prevalent across the Indonesian archipelago including inKalimantan, Java,Bali,Sulawesi,MalukuandPapua. InMalaysia, the long-standingproblemof localdemand for turtleeggs in the statesof SabahandTerengganu remainsactive. The trade inmarineturtles,partsandproducts isstrictlyprohibited inSabah,while inTerengganu,all catchandtrade isprohibitedexcept for turtleeggs, forwhichcollectionandtrade is regulated. Italsoappears that inSabah,newandwellorganisedtrademechanismshavedeveloped—traderstypicallyroamaroundtownapproachingpotentialbuyers,covertlyusingahandsignalofthe‘OK’sign,locallyunderstoodtorefertoavailabilityofturtleeggsforsale.Further,thetradeofliveturtlesandturtlepartsappearstobeagrowingconcerninSabah,especiallytheincreasinginvolvementbylocalcommunitiestomeetforeignmarketdemands.InVietNam,localdemandformarineturtlemeatexistsandmarineturtleproductswereobservedforsalein39of436outletssurveyed.However,theopentradeinbekko(turtleshell)productshasreducedsignificantlyinVietNamcomparedtofindingsin2009.The online surveys revealed a significant shift in the trade ofmarine turtle products from physicalmarkets in Indonesia. At least 213 advertisements were recorded offering a variety of products(jewellery,turtleeggpowder,fan,spectacles,taxidermied,turtleoil,etc)overaonemonthspan. InVietNam,45advertisementswererecordedovera14hourperiodandincludedsmallpersonalitemssuch as fans, spectacles and fingerpicks made from turtle shells. In contrast, there was only oneadvertisementofabraceletmadefromturtleshellrecordedforMalaysiaoveraonemonthspan.Ananalysisofseizuredata(January2015–August2018)revealthatallthreecountriesplayanactiveroleintheinternationaltraffickingofmarineturtleproductsintheAsianregion—Chinawasreportedtobea key destination inmost cases. Given the inconsistentway seizures and enforcement actions arereportedandrecordedbythedifferentcountriesinthisstudy,itisunlikelythattheavailabledatasetisrepresentativeoftherealnumberofincidentsinvolvingmarineturtlesthathavetakenplaceduringtheresearchperiod.Duetotheinherentlycovertnatureoftheillegalwildlifetrade,itstrueextentisunlikelytobereflectedbythereportedseizuredataalone. Regardless,atotalof153seizure incidentswerefoundtohaveoccurredinIndonesia,MalaysiaandVietNamduringthisperiod.Seizuresinvolvedwholespecimens(live,dead,taxidermied),eggs,shellandshellpiecesaswellasmeat.Ofthese,marineturtleeggs(n=84,116)werethemostabundantcommodityseized,particularlyinMalaysia.Thiswasfollowedbyseizureoflivemarineturtles(n=1,836),mostlyinMalaysia(n=1,201individuals),andturtleshellsmostlyinIndonesia(1,023pieces,739kg,and936souvenirsandjewellery).Seizuresofwholespecimensprovideanindicationoftheminimumnumberofturtlesthatweremeantforillegaltradeduringthisperiod—at least2,310turtles.Analysisover thisperiodhighlightsanumberofpatterns.VietNam ismostlyasadestinationmarketaswellastransitroute inthetraffickingofmarineturtleproductstoChina. IndonesiafunctionsmostlyasasourcecountrywithseizedshipmentsdestinedtoChina,VietNamandMalaysia. Malaysiawasbothadestinationcountry for turtleeggs from IndonesiaandthePhilippinespresumablyforlocalconsumptionandasasourceofturtleproductstoVietNam.Cursoryresearch on seizures made elsewhere, but implicated the three countries, also reveal the scale ofinternationalmarine turtle trafficking involvingChina, France and thePhilippines from2015–August2018.AnalysisofCITEStradedatarevealthatonlyasmallpercentage(2%oftotalrecords)ofinternationaltradetransaction involvedIndonesia,MalaysiaandVietNam. Atotalof116legaltradetransactionsinvolvedthethreecountriestookplacefrom2000-2016,fromatotalof6,200records.Notraderecords

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involving the Indonesia, Malaysia and Viet Nam were found for 2017. At least 18 records were ofinternational imports into Indonesia (n=4),Malaysia (n=13) and Viet Nam (n=1). These 18 recordsinvolvedmostlycarvings,reportedly importedmostlyforcommercialpurposes,aswellas liveturtlesandspecimenswhichwerereportedlyforscientificpurposes.Atotalof98recordsinvolvedtheexportofmarineturtleproductsfromthethreecountries,to11countries(Australia,CzechRepublic,France,United Kingdom, Japan, Malaysia (who imported from Viet Nam), the Netherlands, New Zealand,Portugal, Singapore, and theUnitedStates (US)). TheUS,with65 trade transactions,was themainreported importer of marine turtle products from the three countries, and generally involved thegreatest diversity ofmarine turtle products exported. The analysis of CITES trade data also raisedconcernsintermsofcompliancewithCITES.Forexample,theincidentwiththelargestquantitieswasof2,444 liveHawksbillandGreenTurtles importedbyUnitedKingdomintwoseparateshipments in2004,reportedasseizedspecimen.Asmallpercentage(11%)ofthe116traderecordswasreportedtobeforcommercialuse.ThisstudyconfirmsthatillegaltradeofmarineturtlespersistsinIndonesia,MalaysiaandVietnamandidentifiesthemainsourceandtradingcountriesaswellassomeofthechallengesinitsregulationandenforcement.Limitationsofthisstudyincludetherapidnatureoftheresearch,whichpreventedamorecomprehensivequantificationof trade levels and its impact tomarine turtlepopulations. However,considering that marine turtle populations are globally in decline, the threat posed by continuedpoachingandillegaltradeincombinationwiththemultipleotherthreatstheyface,willhavesignificantadverseimpactsonremainingturtlepopulationsinSoutheastAsia,ifallowedtopersist.Therefore,thefollowingrecommendationsaremade:Recommendations:• Streamliningpolicyandlegislativeprovisions,administrativecapacitiesandimplementation

- Standardize legislative provision to close loopholes and improve conservation of turtlepopulations inMalaysia,toprevent launderingofthemarineturtleeggtrade inthecountry,betweenstatesthatprohibittradeandthosethatdonot.

- Improvedenforcementofexistinglegislationtorestricttradeofturtlesandturtleproducts- PeriodicalupdatesonNationalPlanofActions(NPOAs)inallthreecountries.- Streamline roles of the various government agencies tasked with implementing legal and

regulatorypolicies.• Monitoring,investigations,lawenforcementandimprovedgatewayprotection

- Improvedmonitoring,detectionandlawenforcementinthemarketplace,andparticularlyinmaritimeareasinvolvingfishingvesselsandseaports.ThisshouldalsoincludeDNAsamplingofseizedspecimenstodeterminespeciesinvolvedand/populationsoforigin.

- Long-termmonitoring of trade in key locations and countries (including those not assessedunderthisstudy),whichconsiderscomparisonsandtrendsovertime.

- Investigations intotheplayers involvedinthepoachingandtradeofmarineturtlesandtheirparts, including the identification of collectors, illegal harvesters,middlemen, transportationandlogisticscompaniesandtraders,whichleadstoarrestsandconvictionofthosefoundguilty

- PursuanttotheCITESNotification009thatwasissuedin20181,allCITESPartiestoprepareandsubmitanaccountofannualillegaltradereportinginanaccuratemanner.

1https://cites.org/sites/default/files/notif/E-Notif-2018-009.pdf

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• Educationandawareness-raising- Educateandraiseawarenessamongkeyplayers(suchaslocalcommunities,fishermen,traders

andconsumers).- Awareness-raising campaign for key player,which could also serve to be a starting point in

developing more targeted research and initiatives designed to reduce consumption andchangingbehaviourinthelongterm.

• Enhancedregionalcooperation

- StrengthencoordinationandcollaborationbetweenIndonesia,Malaysia,andVietNam(aswellas thePhilippines, that isalsoan importantcountry involvedand/ implicated in themarineturtletrade).

- Promote collaboration and information sharing on the illegal international trade, such assmugglingmethodsandtradeflows.

- Identify and stem illegal trade flows from within Southeast Asia to East Asian destinationcountries and territories (mainland China, , Hong Kong SAR and Japan). These can be donethroughexistingcooperativeagreementssuchasundertheumbrellaofIOSEAMarineTurtlesMoU, ASEAN or the Coral Triangle Initiative, which can include capacity building and jointinformationsharinginitiatives.

• Sourcesitemanagementandprotection- Coastal provinces/cities where marine turtles are nesting and foraging to implement the

following practices and cross-cutting solutions including: establishing comprehensivemanagementpoliciesandregulations toprotectcoastalareasand/or islands fornestingandforaging marine turtles into annually provincial/city economic and tourism developmentalstrategy; establish no-entry and/or no-catch zones in some special areas restricting humanpresenceandactivitiestoprotectnestingandforagingfemales;developprovincialmonitoringmechanismincollaborationwithmarinepoliceandotherrelatedorganizationstocombatillegalhunting, and collection of eggs and nesting females; develop programs/projects providingsustainablyalternativelivelihoodstodiversify incomesourcesfor localcommunities;developsandprotectionprogramstoreduceimpactsofover-exploitationtotheusefulnessofsandformarineturtle’slayingeggs.

• Assessmentandmanagementofturtleattractionsites- Betterassessandmonitorcaptivefacilitiesthatmanageturtlehatcheriesandthoseusedas

touristattractionstoensurethatthesefacilitiestonotundermineconservationefforts,orfacilitatelaunderingofwildcaughtturtlesortheirpartsintotrade.

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1. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

This study was undertaken pursuant to CITES Decisions 17.222 and 17.223 2 on Hawksbill Turtle(Eretmochelys imbricata) and other marine turtles (Cheloniidae and Dermochelyidae). Under theseDecisions, the CITES Secretariat is requested to, in collaboration with its partners Inter-AmericanConventionfortheProtectionandConservationofSeaTurtles(IAC)andtheConventiononMigratorySpecies/IndianOcean-SoutheastAsianMemorandumofUnderstanding(CMS/IOSEA),undertakeastudyonthelegalandillegalinternationaltradeinmarineturtles,interaliatoresearchitsstatus,scopeandtrends, conservation impacts and management options, and to identify areas where immediatemitigation effortsmay be needed. TheCITES Secretariat is currently implementing this study at thegloballevelandisfocusingparticularassessmenteffortsinthreeregions:theInter-Americanregion,theEastAfricanregionandtheSoutheastAsianandCoralTriangleregion.

Towardsthisend,TRAFFICwascontractedbytheCITESSecretariattoundertakeareviewtodocumentthetradeinmarineturtlesintheSoutheastAsianandCoralTriangleregion,specifically inIndonesia,MalaysiaandVietNam.Thesethreecountrieshavebeenidentifiedasplayingakeyroleintheillegaltradeofmarineturtlesbothtomeetlocaldemandaswellasinternationaldemand.

2. BACKGROUND AND HISTORY OF MARINE TURTLE TRADE IN THE SOUTHEAST ASIA AND THE CORAL TRIANGLE

Therearesevenspeciesofmarineturtlesintheworld,ofwhichsixarefoundintheSoutheastAsiaandCoralTriangleregion:LeatherbackDermochelyscoriacea,GreenCheloniamydas,LoggerheadCarettacaretta,HawksbillEretmochelys imbricata,Flat-backNatatordepressusandOliveRidleyLepidochelysolivacea.TheKemp’sRidleyLepidochelyskempiiisnativetoMexicoandtheUnitesStates.ExceptfortheFlat-backTurtle,whichonlynests inAustraliabut foragesaroundsouthern IndonesiaandPapuaNewGuinea,thesespeciesarewidelydistributedintheregion(Ezekiel,2018).SpeciesoccurringinthethreeSoutheastAsiantargetcountriesareprovidedinTable1.Table1:MarineturtlespeciesoccurringinSoutheastAsia,theirrangeandIUCNRedListstatus.

Species GreenTurtleCheloniamydas

HawksbillTurtleEretmochelysimbricata

LeatherbackTurtleDermochelyscoriacea

OliveRidleyTurtleLepidochelysolivacea

LoggerheadTurtleCarettacaretta

FlatbackTurtleNatatordepressus

IUCNstatus Endangered CriticallyEndangered

Vulnerable Vulnerable Criticallyendangered

DataDeficient

RangeStates* Indonesia,Malaysia,VietNam

Indonesia,Malaysia,VietNam

Indonesia,Malaysia,VietNam

Indonesia,Malaysia,VietNam

Indonesia,Malaysia,VietNam

Indonesia

*refersonlytocountriesconsideredunderthisassessment

Marineturtlesareknowntonestinkeylocationsthroughouttheregion.InMalaysia,primarynestingsitesarefoundinthestatesofSabahandSarawakinEastMalaysia,aswellasthestatesofTerengganuandsurroundingislands,MelakaandinsomepartsofPahangandPerakinPeninsularMalaysia;thoughtherehasbeennoreliableinformationregardingthenestingofLoggerheadTurtlesinMalaysia(TRAFFIC2https://www.cites.org/eng/dec/valid17/81876

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SoutheastAsia,2009)(seeAnnexIfordetaileddescriptionofkeynestingsites,abundanceandtrendsinMalaysia). InIndonesia,nestingsitesaredistributedthroughoutthe17,000islandsthatmakethearchipelago(IOSEA,2008;TRAFFIC,2009;Profauna,2010;IOSEA,2014).TheTurtleIslandsregion,partoftheSuluArchipelagocomprisesofsome400islandsbetweenthesouthwesterntipofthePhilippinesandnortheastapexofSabah,MalaysiaareimportantgroundsforGreenandHawksbillTurtles(Lametal.,2012).InVietNam,majornestingbeachesarescatteredfromthenorthernborderwithChinatothesouthernborderwithCambodia,includingmostoffshoreislandgroups.ConcentratednestingareasarefoundintheGulfofTonkin,centralprovincesandtheislandsinthesoutheasternwatersandtheGulfofThailand, thoughmany are under severe pressure from human activities and some no longer exist(Hamannetal.,2003;Hamannetal.,2006).MarineturtlesaregenerallynationallyprotectedinmostSoutheastAsiancountries(seeSection3.2fordetaileddescriptionofnationallegislationpertainingtoIndonesia,MalaysiaandVietNam).Further,asof19813,allmarineturtlespecies(FamiliesDermochelyidaeandCheloniidae)havebeenlistedwithinAppendix Iof theConventionon InternationalTrade inEndangeredSpeciesofWildFaunaandFlora(CITES). This essentially prohibits the international trade in marine turtle parts and products forcommercialpurposes.Despitethis,illegalinternationalanddomestictradeintheirpartsandproductspersists.2.1 Marine turtle trade in Indonesia, Malaysia and Viet Nam PaststudiesinSoutheastAsiahavedocumentedmanythreatsthathavecausedthedeclineinmarineturtlepopulations(Campbell,2002;TroëngandDrews,2004;McLellanetal.2005;SandilyanandVinoth,2013). This includestargetedandopportunisticfisheries,habitatdegradationofnestingandfeedinghabitats,pollutionofthemarineenvironment,disease,climatechangeandusebyhumans.Thisstudyfocussesonthethreatsfacedbymarineturtlepopulationsduetoexploitationfortradeintheirmeat,eggsandshells.Huntingofmarineturtlestosupplytradeandconsumptiondemandsofbothadomesticandinternationalmarket,isdeemedaseriousandpersistentthreattothelongtermsurvivalofmarineturtles(GroombridgeandLuxmoore,1989;MeylanandDonnelly,1999;Pilcher,2000;Kemfetal.,2000;vanDykeandShepherd,2004;Stiles,2009;IOSEA,2014;CITES,2016a).For centuries,marine turtleshavebeenexploited for their shells, sought-after for theproductionofartefactsandornaments(Aikin,1840;GroombridgeandLuxmoore,1989;vanDijkandShepherd,2004;KinchandBurgess,2009;Lametal.,2012).ChinaandJapanhavefeaturedprominentlyinthistrade,withHawksbillTurtleshellscovetedintheluxuryartsandcraftsmarkets,thoughthiswasalsopopularintheRepublicofKoreaandTaiwanProvinceofChina(GroombridgeandLuxmoore,1989; Lametal.2012). Japan’smarine turtle shell import from1970–1986was said to involvemore than600,000HawksbillTurtles(MillikenandTokunaga,1987). Marineturtleshells,alsoknownmorepopularlybytheJapanese term bekko, are used as ornaments and curios such as jewellery, combs, hand-held fans,buttons, spectacle frames aswell as furniture embellishments inmore elaborate cases (Limpus andMiller,1990;vanDijkandShepherd,2004).ThehardershellofHawksbillTurtlemakesitapreferredchoiceofspeciesthatistargetedforthetradeinbekko(Canin,1991;HainshwangandLeggio,2006;).AsingleaverageHawksbillTurtlereportedlyyieldsabout780gofbekko(MillikenandTokunaga,1987).3Kemp’sRidleyTurtlewastheearliesttobelistedinCITESAppendixIin1975;Green,LeatherbackandOliveRidleyTurtleswerefirstlistedinAppendixIIin1975andup-listedin1977;FlatbackTurtleswerefirstlistedinAppendixIIin1975andlateruplistedtoAppendixIin1981;HawksbillTurtlewaslistedin1977inAppendixI.By1981,allmarineturtles(CheloniidaeandDermochelyidae)wereincludedinAppendixII.

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Asidefromthis,marineturtlesarealsoharvestedandexploitedfortheirparts,suchastheirmeatandeggs,consumedasanimportantsourceofproteinforcoastalcommunities,forreligiousandculturalreasons aswell as for traditionalmedicine purposes (TRAFFIC, 2009; TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, 2009;DethmersandBaxter,2011;IOSEA,2014;WildAid,2018;Riskas,2018).Consumptionofmeatandeggsreportedlyoccursin75%ofthecountriesintheIndianOceanandSoutheastAsiaregionwhileEastAsiancountries mainly dominate the trade in marine turtle shells (IOSEA, 2014). The South China Sea isconsideredahavenfortheillegalcaptureandtradeinmarineturtlesduetothevastnessofshippingandfishingactivities(WildAid,2018).InSoutheastAsia,exploitationofmarineturtles,theirpartsandproducts is believed to center around the Coral Triangle region of Indonesia,Malaysia, Papua NewGuinea,thePhilippines,SolomonIslandsandTimor-Leste(Figure1). From2000to2008,over9,180marineturtlederivativeswerereportedly tradedbetweenSoutheastAsiaandEastAsiaregions(Lametal.,2012).Themainregionaltraderouteforwholeturtlesandpartsor products seems to originate in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines to supply the consumermarketsofEastAsia(Lametal.,2012;CITES,2016b).Since2009atleast,thepoachingofmarineturtlesatseainSouth-EastAsianwaterswasreportedtobeperpetratedbyChinesefisheriesmostly,operatingoutofHainanprovinceandVietnamesefisheries(IOSEA,2014).Thisdemandisreportedlyontherise—bothChinesedemandforturtlemeatandmedicine,andJapaneseandTaiwanesedemandfortraditionalcraftsmadeof turtlescutes (Lametal.,2012;CITES,2016b). Marineturtlepopulations in theCoralTriangleare reported tohavedeclineddramatically in recentdecades,byasmuchas90% for somepopulations(WWF,2011;IOSEA,2014).

Figure1:CoralTriangleregion

AdetailedaccountofthetradeinmarineturtlesinIndonesia,MalaysiaandVietNamwashighlightedinareportpreparedbytheIOSEASecretariat in2014(IOSEA,2014),andmorerecentlybyRiskasetal.(2018).Theyreportedthatthedirectexploitationofmarineturtlesincludingmeat,eggsandshellswasconcentratedintheCoralTriangleRegion.BothIndonesiaandMalaysiawerehighlightedasakeysource

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ofturtlestomeetdomesticdemandandalsowereincreasinglybeingimplicatedasasourceofsmuggledturtles to countries likeChina, JapanandVietNam. Vietnamese fisherieswerehighlightedasakeyperpetratorinthepoachingofmarineturtlesintheCoralTriangleRegionwhichwerethentradedatseatoChina.InIndonesia,marineturtlemeat,mostlyinvolvingGreenTurtlesbutalsotheHawksbillTurtle,issaidtobe consumed for religious and cultural reasons in Bali (Barr, 2001; Profauna, 2003; van Dyke andShepherd,2004;Jansen,2009;Profauna,2010;Langenheim,2017).Otherthanasasourceofprotein,there is awidely-held belief that the consumption of turtle eggs confers sexual vigour (Tiba, 2013;Widodianto,pers.comm,2018).ThetradeofseaturtlesandtheirproductsappearstobewidespreadinIndonesiawithturtleeggsandmeatstillindemandlocally.Anestimatedminimumof1,967turtlesand 29,123 turtle eggs were seized in Indonesia from 2005–2009 (TRAFFIC, unpublished). A 2008researchbyProFaunaIndonesiaestimatedthataround1,115GreenTurtleswerebeingpoachedeveryyear in southeast Sulawesi alone (IOSEA, 2008). TRAFFIC’s research in 2009 recorded active tradethroughoutBali, Java,Kalimantan,SulawesiandSumatra, involvingbothHawksbillandGreenturtles(TRAFFIC,unpublished).In2012,IndonesianauthoritieswarnedthatinternationaltraffickingofmarineturtleswasontherisenationwideduetoincreasingdemandfromEastAsiancountriessuchasChinaandJapan(IOSEA,2014).AlthoughforeignfishingfleetshaverecentlybeenbannedfromIndonesianwaters,theproblemofillegalfishing,eitherwithoutlegalpermits,orusingillegallypurchasedpermits,stillpersists.InMalaysia,theimpactsfromthetradingofmarineturtlepartsandderivativeshadbeenacknowledgedasaconservationissueandhavebeengivenwideattentioninthecountrysincethe1950s.Thisdomestictradeisdominatedbytheconsumptionofeggs(Liew,2011;Chan,2006;TRAFFICSoutheastAsia,2009;DepartmentofFisheriesMalaysia,2008;MohdSallehetal.,2018;Tehetal.,2018;WWF-MalaysiaandSabahWildlife Department, 2018), which is legal inmost states, with the exception of Sabah andSarawak on Borneo. In the early 1960s, the management of turtle egg collection and nestingdisturbanceswasformallyestablishedtoaddressthedecliningLeatherbackTurtlenestingpopulationinRantauAbang,Terengganu(Liew,2011).However,actualstudiesontheoccurrenceandprevalenceoftrade,aswellasthetypeandcharacteristicsofthetradeitselfhavebeenquitelimited.Eggcollectionlicenseswere introducedtocurbwidespreadturtlecollectionandsubsequenttrade,with ‘buyback’4mechanismsestablishedforconservationpurposesbytheDepartmentofFisheriesMalaysia,typicallyinvolving Green andHawksbill turtles (Chan& Liew, 1996;WWF-Malaysia, 2011). The egg licensingsystemgenerally includes the following: licenses arenon-transferrable, all eggsmustbe sent to theDepartmentofFisheriesforincubation,andonlyasmallnumberofindividualsareallowedtocollectonastretchofbeachorarea(TRAFFICSoutheastAsia,2009).Since2009,twospecificstudieswereundertakentounderstandmarineturtleeggtradeinthecountryi.e.aTRAFFICstudyin2009(TRAFFICSoutheastAsia,2009)andaregionalassessmentin2014whichincludedMalaysia (IOSEA, 2014).Other studiesonlymentionmarine turtle exploitation through theharvestingandconsumptionofeggsasbeingapotentialreasonforpopulationdecline,withoutgoinginto any particular detail on the trade (Liew, 2011). In the state of Sabah, trade is prohibited, butcontinues to take place. A study byWWFMalaysia and the SabahWildlife Department found thatbetween1999–2017at least129seizure incidents involvingmarineturtleeggswererecorded inthestate—238,396eggswereseizedoverthisperiod,andthehighestseizureper-yearoccurred in20164Thebuybackschemereferstothegovernmentbuyingtheeggsbackfromcollectors,whichprovidesanincometothecollectorswhilethegovernmentmanagestheeggsinahatchery.

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with43,826eggsseized(WWF-MalaysiaandSabahWildlifeDepartment,2018)(AnnexII).Thestudyalsorecorded23casesfrom2004to2017involvingseizuresofwholeorpartsofturtles.InVietNam,marineturtlesareasymbolof indigenousculturalandeconomicvalues.Marineturtleshave been traded for food because of their fat (0.5-1.2%) and protein (15-20%)5 content and fordecoration(frombone,skinandshell).GreenTurtles’nestsareharvestedforeggsandHawksbillTurtleshellsareusedtomakehandicraftanddecorativeitemsincludingbekkoornamentsfromturtleshellsorstuffed(taxidermied)wholeanimals(PhamThuoc,2003;Stiles,2009;EducationforNature-VietNam,2018).Theseuseshavereportedlycontributedtothedeclineinthepopulationofmarineturtlesaswellasthenumberofnestingfemalescomingtothecountrytolayeggs(Stiles,2009).LeatherbackTurtlesareextremelyrareinVietNam,whileGreenTurtlesarecurrentlyonlyfoundinoffshoreislandsorlesspopulatedareasinVietNam(ChuandNguyen,2015).InternationaltradeinmarineturtlesinvolvingVietNam increased greatly during the1990sdrivenbydemand from Japan, SouthKorea andChina(Groombridge and Luxmoore, 1989). In more recent times, much of the domestic trade in turtleproducts is seen to be driven by foreign and national touristswith trade ofmarine turtle productsoccurringinprovinces/citiessuchasHoChiMinhCity,VungTau,NhaTrang,andHaNoi(Martin,1992;Stiles,2009).However,eventhissawaslightreductionin2008,comparedto2002afterthetradeinmarineturtleproductswasoutlawedbytheGovernmentin2002—from22,225observedproductsintrade to 5,854 products between 2002 and 2008 (Stiles, 2009). Hawksbills Turtles are particularlythreatenedbytheintensiveshelltrade,asthemostexploitedspeciesintheillegaltradeinVietNam,covetedprimarilyfortheirshell(Stiles,2009;Lametal.,2012).

3. POLICY AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK

3.1 Global and Regional Frameworks A number ofmajor global conventions are directly relevant to the conservation ofmarine species,includingmarineturtles.Theseincludefourlegallybindingagreements:theConventionontheTradeinEndangeredSpeciesofWildFaunaandFlora(CITES),theConventiononBiologicalDiversity(CBD),theConventiononWetlandsofInternationalImportance(RamsarConvention)andtheConventionontheConservationofMigratorySpeciesofWildAnimals(CMS).Inaddition,voluntaryagreementsprovideguidelinesandlessformalcommitmentsfortheconservationofvariousspeciesorhabitatsofmarinewildlife.AllsevenspeciesofmarineturtlearelistedinAppendixIofCITES,since1981,andallexcepttheFlat-backedTurtleonAppendicesIandIIofCMS;theFlat-backedTurtleislistedonAppendixIIonly.CITES Appendix I listing prohibits international trade in these species, except for exceptionalcircumstances,while CMS Appendix I and II listing obligates Parties to, inter alia, prohibit taking ofAppendixIspecies(exceptionalcasespossible)and2)concludeinternationalagreementswhichwouldbenefitAppendixIIspecies.Key international frameworksapplicable to the region,andparticularly Indonesia,MalaysiaandVietNamareprovidedinthefollowingsections,basedonEzekiel(2018).

3.1.1 Indian Ocean Southeast Asian Marine Turtle Memorandum of Understanding (IOSEA Marine Turtle MoU)

ASEANSignatories:Cambodia,Indonesia,Malaysia,Myanmar,Philippines,Thailand,VietNam

5ChuTheCuongandBuiThiThuHien(2015),101CauhoivaTraloiveBaotonruabien,Gland,ThuySy:IUCN,Page37.

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TheIOSEAMarineTurtleMoUwascreatedundertheauspicesofCMSandcameintoeffectin2001.Itwasamendedin2009,alongwiththeConservationandManagementPlanwhichisappendedtotheMoU. TheMoU isnot legallybinding;however, itdoeshaveaprovision that it canbeamended tobecomeabindingtreaty ifamajorityofsignatoriesagree. TheMoUappliestothe landandmarineterritoryofSignatoryStatesandisalsoapplicabletovesselsoperatingintheregionunderaSignatory’sflag.ObligationsInternationalcooperation

Signatoriesmustcooperate“closely”toconservemarineturtlesandareurgedtoratifyrelevantinternationalagreementstopromotethelegalprotectionofmarineturtles.

Createeffectivelegislation

Signatoriesshouldcreate,reviewandimplementnationallegislationtoconservemarineturtlesandharmoniselegislationbetweensignatorystates.

Nationalauthorities Signatories are required to designate (1) a national authority to coordinatecommunicationbetweensignatorystates;(2)aSecretariattocoordinateandencouragereportingandcommunicationbetweenmemberstatesandotherrelevantorganisations;and(3)anAdvisoryCommitteetoadviseonscientific,technicalandlegalmatters.

Reporting SignatoriesshouldreportregularlytotheIOSEAMarineTurtleMoUSecretariatontheirimplementationoftheMoU.

ImplementtheConservationandManagementPlan

Signatories are required, subject to resources, to implement the Conservation andManagementPlanappendedtotheMoU.Theplancomprisesalistof105activitiestobeundertaken,listedunderthefollowingsixmainobjectives:

1. Reducedirectandindirectcausesofmortalityofmarineturtles.Thisincludesactivities1.4a–dtopromotetheuseoffishinggearthatminimisesby-catchofturtles,and1.4e–ftosupporttheUNDriftnetMoratoriumandprovideproperfacilitiesfordisposaloffishinggear.Thisobjectivealsoincludesactivity1.5a–eto prohibit harvest and trade in marine turtles and their eggs, including byenactinglegislationtodoso,wherenecessary.

2. Protectandconservemarineturtlehabitats.Thisincludesactivities2.2a–btorehabilitate degraded nesting beaches, coral reefs, mangroves and seagrassbeds.

3. Increaseandshareresearchonmarineturtleecology.4. Increasepublicawarenessandparticipationinmarineturtleconservation.5. Enhancenational,regionalandinternationalcooperation. Includingactivities

5.1a–ctoimprovecompliancewithCITES,and5.1ftoimplementlegislationandimproveenforcementeffortstodeter illegaltrade. Activities5.3hand iurgeSignatoriestoencouragenon-signatorystatestobecomePartyto,respectively,CMSandglobalfisheriesagreements,includingUNFSA,andtoimplementtheFAOCodeofConduct.Activity5.5aisto“Reviewdomesticpoliciesandlawstoaddress gaps or impediments to marine turtle conservation.” Signatoriesshouldexchangeinformationonmarineturtleswithotherstates(3.4).

6. PromoteimplementationoftheMoUandConservationandManagementPlan.Includingactivities6.1atoencouragenon-signatorystatestosigntheMoUand6.1ctoconsidermakingtheMoUlegallybinding.

RelevantresolutionspassedundertheIOSEAMarineTurtleMoUThreeresolutionshavebeenpassedbytheSignatoryStatestotheIOSEAMarineTurtleMoU,allofwhichrelatetotheissueofmarineturtleby-catchandmortality:

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• The2012ResolutiontoEstablishtheIOSEANetworkofSitesofImportanceforMarineTurtlesintheIndianOcean–South-EastAsiaRegionencouragesSignatoryStatestonominatesitesforinclusionintheIOSEANetworkofSitesofImportanceforMarineTurtlesandprovidesguidanceonhowtoevaluatepotentialsitesfornominationandcoordinategovernanceforselectedsites.

• The 2008 Resolution to Promote the Use ofMarine Turtle By-catch ReductionMeasures byIOSEASignatoryStatesurgesSignatoryStatestoadopttheFAOGuidelinestoReduceSeaTurtleMortality in Fishing Operations and encourages Signatory States, the Indian Ocean TunaCommission(IOTC)andtheWesternandCentralPacificFisheriesCommission(WCPFC)toadoptsafemarineturtlehandlingmeasuresforlonglinefisheries.

• The2005Resolution3.1UrgingtheIndianOceanTunaCommissionanditsMemberStatestoAddressMarineTurtleBy-CatchIssueswithintheIOSEARegioncontributedtotheIOTCpassingits 2005 Recommendation on Sea Turtles and 2009 Resolution on Sea Turtles, which weresupersededin2012bytheResolutionontheConservationofMarineTurtles(discussedbelowunderRegionalfisheriesagreements).

• In addition, the 8th Meeting of Signatories to the IOSEA Marine Turtle MOU convened toestablishaworkinggrouptoaddressissuesrelatedtoturtletrade.

3.1.2 Memorandum of Understanding on ASEAN Sea Turtle Conservation and Protection (ASEAN MoU)

ASEAN Contracting Parties: Brunei, Indonesia, Lao PDR,Malaysia,Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore,Thailand,VietNamTheASEANMoUisaconciseagreementsignedin1997byallASEANcountriesexceptCambodia.Theagreement was one of the first multilateral agreements focused specifically on marine turtleconservation.However,theMoUisextremelybroadandasksverylittleofitssignatories.OtherthandesignatingMalaysiaasthecoordinatorforimplementingtheMoU(Art.V)andrequiringeachPartytodesignateanagencytocoordinatewithMalaysia(Art.VI)andatleastoneexperttoformaTechnicalExpertWorkingGroup(Art.V),theMoUdoesnotrequirespecificactionsfromitsContractingParties.However, it does ask Parties to consider enacting new laws on marine turtle conservation andharmonisingexistingnationallaws,andtocoordinatewiththeSoutheastAsianFisheriesDevelopmentCentre(SEAFDEC)increatingaseaturtleprotectionprogram(Art.IV).

3.1.3 Memorandum of Agreement between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Government of Malaysia on the Establishment of the Turtle Islands Heritage Protected Area (TIHPA MoU)

ASEANParties:Malaysia,PhilippinesTheTurtleIslandsHeritageProtectedArea(TIHPA)MoUconcernsthejointmanagementandprotectionoftheonlyremainingmajorGreenTurtlenestinghabitatsandpopulationinSoutheastAsia,whichalsoprovidenestingsitesforHawksbillTurtles.ThisbilateralMoUcoverssixislandsinthePhilippinesandthree in Malaysia, located along the international treaty limits separating the two countries. TheagreementwasformalisedbytheGovernmentsofthePhilippinesandMalaysia in1996. Thearea issubject toeachcountry’s lawswithintheapplicable jurisdictionand jointlymanagedasaGreenandHawksbillturtlesanctuary.Asamarinesanctuary,eachcountry’spunishmentsforwildlifecrimeswithin

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nationalprotectedareasapply.Inaddition,theagreementprovidesforprotectionofsandandcoralwithinthearea.ObligationsConservationandmanagement

Partiesarerequiredtoimplementajointmarineturtleresourcemanagementprogramand an integrated conservation and research programme that aims for the wisemanagementoftheProtectedArea(Art.II).AnnexAtotheMoUlistsnineactionstobe taken to conserve andmanage turtles, including protecting nesting habitat andprohibitingsandandcoralexcavationandtheuseoffishinggearthatdisturbsorharmsturtlesinthearea.

Otherobligations Parties are required to establish an Implementing Agency (Art. IV), a centralisedinformationnetworkonmarineturtles,includingadatabasethatcollectsinformationdescribedinAnnexAoftheMoU,andeco-tourismandawarenessprograms(Art.II).

3.1.4 CoralTriangleInitiativeonCoralReefs,FisheriesandFoodSecurity(CTI-CFF)ASEANSignatories:Indonesia,Malaysia,PhilippinesThe CTI-CFF is amultilateral partnership between Indonesia,Malaysia, the Philippines and the non-ASEANpartnersPapuaNewGuinea,TimorLesteandtheSolomonIslands.Anon-bindingdeclaration,theCoralTriangleInitiativeLeaders’DeclarationonCoralReefs,FisheriesandFoodSecurity,wassignedbythesecountriesin2009,committingthemtoimplementa10-yearRegionalPlanofActionasarallyingpointforcollectiveandparallelactionatavarietyoflevels.TheRegionalPlanofActionstatesthatitwill target all six speciesof turtles found in theCoral Triangle, aswell as corals, seagrass andotherspeciesassessedasthreatenedontheIUCNRedList.ObligationsThe Declaration does not provide any specific obligations; however, the Plan of Action includes 38regionalactionsunderfivegoals.Theseare:

1. Managepriorityseascapes.Includingdesignatingandeffectivelymanagingtheseseascapes.2. Developanecosystemapproachtomanagingmarineresources.Includingimplementingstrong

legislative, policy and regulatory frameworks for an ecosystem approach, including throughinternational collaboration. Thisgoal specificallymentions implementing theFAO IPOA-IUU.Underthisgoalarealsotargetsofachievingamoresustainabletradeinreeffishandestablishinga forum on managing and trading internationally in reef-based organisms. It is alsorecommendedtointegratetheprecautionaryapproachintolegislationandtakemeasurestoreducedestructivefishingpractices,includinguseofcyanideandblastfishing.

3. Conserve andmanagemarine areas. Including identifying priority seascapes, establishing amodelforsustainablemanagementofseascapesandsecuringfunding.PartiesareencouragedtoestablishandmanageMPAs.

4. Adapttoclimatechange.5. Improve the status of threatened species. The Plan of Action urges Parties to create and

implement regional Plan for sharks, sea turtles, marine mammals, targeted reef fish andthreatenedinvertebrates.Specifictargetsforeachofthesearelisted,includingmonitoringandenforcementofregulationsregardinginternationaltradeandreductionofby-catch.Partiesareencouraged to adopt and strengthen local and national legislative, policy and regulatory

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frameworks and regional and international agreements on threatened species. ThePlan ofActionindicatesthatthesemeasuresshouldincludesharinginformationsuchasdraftandfinalversionsofnationallawstoenableregionalharmonisationoflegalandpolicyframeworksandenforcing laws and regulations to combat IUU fishing and trafficking of threatened marinespecies.

3.2 National Legislation ThefollowingsectionsarebasedlargelyonareviewofkeymarineprotectionrelatedlegislationsintheASEANcountriesthatwasledbyTRAFFIC(Ezekiel,2018).

3.2.1 Indonesia Indonesiagenerallyhasagoodwildlifeprotection legislative framework,however someweaknessesexist,suchasthelackofaunifiedlistofprotectedspeciesthatcoversallCITES-andCMS-listedspeciesandalackofprohibitionsonsomeharmfulactivities.Thisincludesthelackofprovisiontoregulateandtake action on non-native CITES listed species. The most important pieces of legislation for theconservationandmanagementofmarinewildlifeinIndonesiaaretheConservationofLivingResourcesandtheirEcosystemsActNo.5(1990),theLawontheManagementofCoastalAreasandIsles(2007)andtheFisheryLaw(2004,amended2009).ThreeGovernmentRegulationsrelatetotheconservationofmarinewildlife:No.60/2007ontheConservationofFisheryResources,No.7/1999onPreservingFloraand Fauna Species, and No. 8/1999 on Wild Flora and Fauna Exploitation. All marine turtles areconsideredaprotectedspeciesundertheGovernmentRegulationNo.7/1999onPreservingFloraandFauna Species. Any catch, trade, import, export, possession and transfer of protected species isprohibitedunderActNo.5.Anyoneviolatingthislawmaybeliable,uponconviction,toafineofuptoIDR100,000(USD10,000)andimprisonmentofuptofiveyears. Severalotherlawsproviderelevantmeasures,includingtheLawontheSea(2014),whichmakestheIndonesian government responsible formanaging themarineenvironment, theCustoms Law (1995,amended 2006), and the Penal Code (1915), which includes measures to protect animals frommistreatment.Inaddition,alargenumberofMinisterialRegulationsprovidedetailedmeasuresforthemanagement and control of activities relating to marine wildlife. Strengths and weaknesses ofIndonesia’slegislationwithregardtomarinewildlifeprotectionaresummarisedinTable2.Table2:SummaryofstrengthsandweaknessesinIndonesia’smarineturtlelegislation

Strengths Weaknesses• Detailedlistofprohibitedactivities,including

catching,killing,possessing,transportingortradingprotectedspecieswithoutalicenceandimportingandexportingwildlifewithoutapermit.

• Prohibitionoffishingwithexplosives,poisonsorothermaterialsthatdestroycoralreefs,fishresourcesortheenvironment.Possessionofequipmentforthesetypesoffishingprohibited.

• Requirementtoreleasemarinewildlifethathasbeencapturedaccidentallyaliveandreportifdead.

• ConservationofLivingResourcesandtheirEcosystemsActandFisheryLawaregeneral.Whereimplementingregulationsprovidedbyministries,someprovincesmaynotrecognisejurisdiction(Lotolungetal.2005).

• Permittedtocatch,kill,transportortradeprotectedanimalsforresearch,educationorsafeguardingoftheanimalsunderConservationofLivingResourcesandtheirEcosystemsAct

• GovernmentRegulationNo.7(1999)allowsConservationInstitutions,includingzoosandanimalparks,totakewildlifethatisnot

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• MinisterofMarineAffairsandFisheriesrequiredtospecifyclosedseasonsandareas.

• Permitsandlicencesrequiredfornaturalresourceexploitation,includingforfishingoutsideIndonesianwaters.

• Detailedrequirementsforvesselregistrationandlogbooks.

• Confiscatedspecimensandwildlifefoundinahumanenvironmentmustbereturnedtotheirnaturalenvironmentwherepossible,andconfiscatedwildlifehousedinadequatefacilities.

• Anoffencetodeliberatelyharmananimal,causeitpainortransportitinaneedlesslypainfulmanner.

• StrongpenaltiesforsomeoffencesunderFisheryLaw,LawontheManagementofCoastalAreasandIslesandConservationofLivingResourcesandtheirEcosystemsAct.

• SpecificationofmaximumandminimumsentencesforsomeoffencesunderCustomsLawandLawontheManagementofCoastalAreasandIsles.

• IncreasedpenaltiesforcommittingoffencesdeliberatelyunderConservationofLivingResourcesandtheirEcosystemsActandLawontheManagementofCoastalAreasandIsles.

• FisheryLawprovideshigherpenaltiesforsomeoffencesforownersandoperatorsoffishingvessels,managersofcorporations,andlargerfishingoperations.

• PenaltiesforsomeoffencesunderFisheryLawandCustomsLawareincreasedbyonethirdifanofficialisinvolved.

• IncentivesforinformationandarrestsunderFisheryLawandforcustomsagentswhohavesettledviolationsunderCustomsLaw.

• Clearindicationofresponsibilitiesforimplementation.

protectedfromnatureanddoesnotprovideconditionsforobtainingwildlifeinthisway.

• FisheryLawallowsfishingwithexplosivesandotherdamagingmethodsforresearch.MinistryofFisheriesDecreesspecifyingprotectedspeciesprovideexceptionsforresearch.

• ProtectionforwildlifepartsandproductsomittedfromGovernmentRegulationNo.8/1999onWildFloraandFaunaExploitation.

• Noprohibitiononpossessionofspeciesobtainedusingdestructivefishingequipmentortechniques.

• RegulationoftheMinisterofForestryNo.447(2003)allowscollectionofwildlife,includingprotectedandCITES-listedspecies,fromnatureaslongasnotinprotectedareas.

• NorequirementsforTEDsorminimummeshsizes.

• UnderRegulationoftheMinisterofMarineAffairsandFisheriesNo.04(2010),CITESAppendix-Ispeciesmaybetradedifbredincaptivityandofatleastthesecondgeneration,orofthefirstgenerationiftheybelongtoaspeciesallowedbytheMinister.Couldenablelaunderingofwild-caughtspecimens.

• PenaltiesformistreatinganimalsintradelowunderPenalCode.

• Someregulationsimposeonlyadministrativesanctionsand/ordonotspecifysanctions.

• NoprovisionstoapplypenaltiestocorporationsormanagersunderConservationofLivingResourcesandtheirEcosystemsAct,GovernmentRegulationNo.8(1999),LawontheSeaandLawonCoastalAreasandSmallIsles.

• Nopenalisationofaccomplices.• Provinciallegislationregardingmarinewildlife

protectionmaynotbeharmonisedacrossthecountryorwithMinisterialRegulations.

• NosinglelistofprotectedspeciesthatcoversallCITES-andCMS-listedspecies.

3.2.2 Malaysia Malaysiacomprises13statesandthreefederalterritories,andlegislationtoprotectmarinewildlifeinMalaysiaconsistsofamixtureoffederalandstatelaw.AsperArticle75oftheConstitutionofMalaysia,where there is a conflict between federal and state legislation, federal law prevails. In general,management of turtles falls under the jurisdiction of each individual state for areas within theirterritorialwaters(upto3nmofthelowwatermark).Inlightofthisprovision,managementofturtleswhich falls under thepurviewof the federal government as included in the FisheriesAct 1985onlyappliesinlieuofanystateenactmentspertainingtoturtlemanagement.

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InPeninsularMalaysia,allstateshavemarineturtlerelatedlegislationsexceptforPerlisandSelangor.ThelegislationsinotherstatesviastateenactmentsorundertheenablingsectionoftheFisheriesAct1985mainlyprescribestheproceduresandfeesforthepurposesofsecuringlicensestocollecteggs,and operating turtlewatching areas. There are also penalties prescribed for offences involving thepossessionorkillingofturtles. ThereisnouniformityandinmostofPeninsularMalaysia,allmarineturtleeggs(exceptleatherbackeggsinTerengganuandPahang)arefreelyandlegallytradedinthelocalmarkets, except in Perak and Melaka. The states of Sabah and Sarawak have their own wildlifeprotectionlegislation(theWildlifeConservationEnactment(1997)andtheWildlifeProtectionOrdinance(1998)),whichlistmarineturtlesastotallyprotectedanimals.Bothstatesbanalltradeandconsumptionofmarineturtlesortheirpartsorproducts.FederallegislationgovernstheimportandexportofwildlifethroughMalaysia’smainCITES-implementinglegislation,theInternationalTradeinEndangeredSpeciesAct(2008),andtheCustomsAct(1967).Malaysia’swildlifeprotectionlegislationisgenerallycomprehensiveandprovidesasolidframeworktoprotectmarinewildlife.Ontheotherhand,manyofthemeasurestoprotectwildlifewithinMalaysiadonotapplytomarinespecies,andthemixtureoffederalandstatelegislationtoprotectwildlifecancreategaps, inconsistenciesandoverlap.Forexample,whilethestatesofSabahandSarawakaffordprotectiontomarineturtlesandbantrade,thesameisnotapplicableinthePeninsularMalaysianstates:

- Fivestates(Melaka,Penang,Johor,NegeriSembilanandKelantan)haveenactedRulespursuanttotheFisheriesAct1985.

- TerengganuTurtleEnactment1951(amended1987)useslocalMalaynamestodescribemarineturtles(nodefinitionatspecieslevel).Itprohibitsthekillingandtakingofturtlesbutregulatesthecollectionofturtleeggsviaalicensingprotocol.

- Melaka Fisheries (Turtles and Turtle Eggs) Rules 1989and thePenang Fisheries (Turtles andTurtleEggs)Rules1999whichlistsallfourturtlespeciesinMalaysiaandprovidesforalicensedeggcollectionsystem.

- Johor Fisheries (TurtlesandTurtleEggs)Rules1984, theNegeri Sembilan (TurtlesandTurtleEggs) Rules 1976and theKelantan (Turtles and Turtle Eggs) Rules 1978, all mention theorderChelonia,togetherwithlocalnames,andallowforthelicensingofeggcollection.

Strengths and weaknesses of Malaysia’s legislation with regard to marine wildlife protection aresummarisedinTable3.Table3:SummaryofstrengthsandweaknessesinMalaysia’smarineturtlelegislation

Strengths Weaknesses• ProtectedstatusforallCITES-listedspecies.• Coverageforpartsandproducts.• Detailedlistofprohibitedactivities,including

importandexportofprotectedspecieswithoutalicence,possessionoffishobtainedillegally,andfishingandotheractivitieswithinmarineparks.

• Prohibitionoffishingwithelectricity,explosivesandpoisons.

• Requirementforliveaquaticmammals,turtles,WhaleSharkandsomespeciesofclamthathavebeencaughtaccidentallytobereleasedanddeadspecimensreported.

• NationalParksActlacksdetail,includingoffencesandpenalties.

• FisheriesActlacksdetailedrequirementsonpermittedequipment,by-catchmitigation,prohibitedareas,closedseasonsandotherissuesforprotectingmarinewildlife.

• MinisterordirectorresponsibleforimplementationofInternationalTradeinEndangeredSpeciesAct,FisheriesAct,andSabah’sWildlifeConservationEnactmentmayexemptanyoneoranyspeciesfromanyorallprovisions.

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• Prohibitedfishinginmarineparks.• PermitsandCITESdocumentationrequiredfor

importandexportofscheduledspecies.CustomsActrequirespermitsforimportandexportofallanimalsandproducts.

• Fishinglicencesrequiredbylocalandforeignvessels.LicencesrequiredforhuntinginSabahandSarawak,collectionofturtlesandeggsinKedahandTerengganu.

• Requirementforregistryoffishinglicencesandpermitsandtorecordcatchdataifintendedforexport.

• ManagementAuthoritymay(butnotrequiredto)orderconfiscatedspecimenstobereturnedtotheirhomecountries.

• Regulationsprovidestandardsforrescuecentres.

• Potentialtoprohibitmistreatmentofwildlife.• Strongpenaltiesforseriousoffencesunder

InternationalTradeinEndangeredSpeciesActandinSabah.

• SpecificationofmaximumandminimumsentencesforsomeoffencesunderCustomsActandSabah’sWildlifeConservationEnactment.

• PenaltiesdoubledforrepeatoffencesunderSabah’sWildlifeConservationEnactmentandParksEnactmentandSarawak’sWildlifeProtectionOrdinance.UnderWildlifeConservationEnactment,useofafirearmandmorethantwoaccomplicesinanoffenceresultsindoubledpenalties.

• Penalisationofaccomplicesundermostlegislation.

• Managersofcorporationsresponsibleforoffencescommittedbycorporationsundermostlegislation.Foroffencesinvolvingforeignvessels,higherfinesformasterandowner,whoareliableforoffencesbycrew,underFisheriesAct.

• LowburdenofproofforsomeoffencesunderFisheriesAct,CustomsAct,Sabah’sWildlifeConservationEnactment,Sarawak’sWildlifeProtectionOrdinance,Kedah’sTurtlesEnactmentandTerengganu’sTurtlesEnactment.

• RewardsforinformationleadingtoarrestsandseizuresunderInternationalTradeinEndangeredSpeciesAct,CustomsActandSarawak’sWildlifeProtectionOrdinance.

• ACITESManagementAuthoritymayreturnspecimens,equipmentandevidenceseizedunderInternationalTradeinEndangeredSpecieswithoutspecifyingconditions.

• MarinespeciesnotcoveredbyWildlifeConservationAct(2010).

• FisheriesActdoesnotcoverturtles,andmanystateslackmeasurestoprotectturtles.

• Noprohibitiononindiscriminatefishingmethodssuchastypesoftrawlingoruseofsmallmeshnets.

• NorequirementforTEDs.• Norequirementforseizedwildlifetobe

housedinarescuecentre,repatriated,orreleasedintothewild.

• NorequirementforlicencestofishoutsideEEZorcooperatewithinternationallawsorlawsofotherstates.

• Mandatorycollectionoffisheriesdataonlyforcrewnationality.

• LowpenaltiesforsomeoffencesunderFisheriesAct;Sarawak’sWildlifeProtectionOrdinance,NationalParksandNatureReservesOrdinance,andBiodiversityOrdinance;ParksCorporationEnactmentsinpeninsularstates;Kedah’sandTerengganu’sTurtleEnactments.

• MaximumfinesforviolationsunderInternationalTradeinEndangeredSpeciesActinvolvingindividualspecimensarehigh,butmaximumtotalfineonly10timesthisamount.

• FixedpenaltiesunderSarawak’sWildlifeProtectionOrdinance.

• Mostlegislationallowssomeoffencestobecompoundedbylowfines.AnimalWelfareActdoesnotspecifyamountofadministrativefines.

• Potentialforgaps,inconsistenciesandoverlapcreatedbyomissionofmarinewildlifefromWildlifeProtectionAct(2010)anddivisionofresponsibilityformarinewildlifeandfisheriesbetweenfederalandstategovernments.

• InternationalTradeinEndangeredSpeciesAct,FisheriesAct,andParksEnactmentsofJohor,PerakandSelangorallowofficialstoreturnseizeditemsifundefined“sufficientsecurity”provided.

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• Alllegislationstateswhichministry,departmentorotherbodyisinchargeofimplementation.

3.2.3 Viet Nam Themost important laws formarinewildlife protection in Viet Nam are the Law on EnvironmentalProtection(2014),theBiodiversityLaw(2008),theLawonMarineandIslandResourcesandEnvironment(2015),theFisheriesLaw(2003)andtheLawonCustoms(2014).Theseprovidethegeneralframeworkformarinewildlifeprotection.TheVietnamMaritimeCode(2015)andtheLawontheVietnameseSea(2012)alsoincludemeasuresrelevanttomarinewildlifeprotection.TheselawsareimplementedbynumerousregulationsissuedbytheGovernment,PrimeMinisterandministries.Penaltiesforcrimesand administrative violations are provided separately in Penal Code No. 100/2015/QH13 and Law12/2017/QH14,knownastheAmendedPenalCode.Fourspeciesofmarineturtles(GreenTurtle,HawksbillTurtle,LoggerheadTurtleandOliveRidley)werefirstprotectedinVietNamin2002byDecree48/2002/ND-CPbutwerelaterremovedfromthislistofprotected species when Decree 48 was replaced by Decree 32/2006/ND-CP. However, prior to theimplementation of Decree 32, the domestic exploitation of five species of marine turtles becameprohibited inVietNambywayofDecree59/2005/ND-CP (theoriginal fourspeciesplusLeatherbackTurtles). AlthoughDecree59has been amended twice, first byDecree 14/2009/ND-CP and thenbyDecree53/2012/ND-CP,therelevantsectioncoveringexploitationofmarineresourcesstillstandstoday.Decree59prohibitsharvestinganyspeciesconsideredtobe“threatenedbyextinction”bytheMinistryofFisheries.In2007,theMinistryofFisheriesandMinistryofAgriculturewerecombinedintoMinistryofAgricultureandRuralDevelopment(MARD).Thelistofspecies“threatenedwithextinction”asissuedbyMARDcanbefoundinDecision82/2008/QD-BNNandincludesthefollowingfivespeciesofmarineturtles:HawksbillTurtle,GreenTurtle,OliveRidleyTurtle,LoggerheadTurtleandLeatherbackTurtle.Decree59isalsosupplementedbyguidingdocumentCircular02/2006/TT-BTSwhichlistsfourspeciesofmarine turtle that are “prohibited fromexploitation”:Hawksbill Turtle,GreenTurtle,OliveRidleyTurtle,andLeatherbackTurtle.AlthoughCircular02wasamendedinpartbyCircular62/2008/TT-BNN,thelistofmarineturtlesremainsthesame.Thus,bywayofDecree59anditsrelatedandincorporateddocuments,thesefivespeciesofmarineturtleareprohibitedfromdomesticexploitationinVietNam.However, Decree 160/2013/ND-CP provides exceptions to this rule, but only for research and/orconservationpurposes.Decree160allowsexploiting,trading,buying,selling,gifting,renting,keeping,ranching,transporting,exporting,andimportingmarineturtlesforresearchorconservationpurposeswithproperpermit(s).Theinternationaltradeinmarineturtlesto/fromVietNamisregulatedbyDecree82/2006/ND-CP,VietNam’s CITES implementing legislation. Viet Nam’s legal system is confusing to navigate, with aproliferationof lawsand implementing regulationsatdifferent levels,butasawhole the legislationprohibitsandpenalisesactivitiesharmfultomarinewildlife,controlsmarineresourceexploitation,andprovidesasolidframeworktoprotectmarinewildlifeintrade.StrengthsandweaknessesofVietNam’slegislationwithregardtomarinewildlifeprotectionaresummarisedinTable4.Table4:SummaryofstrengthsandweaknessesinVietNam’smarineturtlelegislation

Strengths Weaknesses• ProtectedstatusforallCITES-listedspecies. • Norequirementtoreleasemarinewildlifethat

hasbeencapturedaccidentally.

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• Detailedlistofprohibitedactivities,includingpossessionofdestructivefishinggear,destructionofhabitat,andtrade,importandexportofwildlifewithoutapermit.

• Prohibitiononusingmasskillingequipment,explosives,poisons,electricityandotherdestructivefishingmethods.

• Licencesrequiredforfishingvesselsoverhalfaton.Permitsrequiredtoexploitwildlife,collectprotectedwildlifeforresearch,andimportorexportwildlife.

• Requirementforvesselsoverhalfatontoregisterandmaintainalogbook.

• Confiscatedwildlifetobehousedinrescuecentresandeventuallyreleasedintotheirnaturalhabitat.

• SpecificationofmaximumandminimumsentencesunderPenalCodeandLawonHandlingofAdministrativeViolations.

• ListsofaggravatingandextenuatingcircumstancesguidedeterminationofpenaltieswithinarangeonLawonHandlingofAdministrativeViolations.

• Increasedpenaltiesunderaggravatingcircumstances,includingrepeatoffences,offencesinvolvingorganisedcrime,abuseofpower,andparticularlyseriousconsequencesunderPenalCode.DecreeonAdministrativeSanctioninFisheriesFieldprovidesincreasedpenaltiesforcrimesinvolvinglargerquantitiesofillegallycollectedwildlifeorlargervessels.

• ProhibitionofabuseofpowerunderLawonEnvironmentalProtection,FisheriesLawandPenalCode.

• LawonHandlingofAdministrativeViolationsprohibitspersonstaskedwithsanctioningadministrativeviolationsfromfailingtodosoordoingsoimproperlyortooslowly.

• Lackofdetailsforlogbooksandvesselregistration,particularlyregardingvesselcompliancehistory.

• NorequirementtoreturnconfiscatedwildlifethatoriginatedoutsideVietNamtocountryoforigin.

• Lowadministrativepenalties.• Extenuatingcircumstancesallowingreduced

sentencesincludeoutstandingcontributionsinproduction,work,combatorstudy:asubjectivecriterionthatcouldbeabused.

• Finesmaybepostponedorwaivedforoffenderswithfinancialdifficulties.Whileimportanttorecogniseextraburdenofpenaltiesonpoorpeople,thismeasurecouldbeabused.

• Powersofenforcementagenciesgenerallyweakandnotclearlyspecified.

• NotalwaysclearwhethertheMinistryofNaturalResourcesandEnvironment(MONRE)ortheMinistryofAgricultureandRuralDevelopment(MARD-theMinistrythathousestheVietNamCITESManagementAuthority)hasjurisdiction.E.g.,MARDandMONREbothresponsibleforissuingpermitsforimportandexportofwildlife.

• Severaldifferentlistsofprotectedwildlifeinuse,leadingtoconfusioninenforcementandpossiblycontradictorymeasures.

• LawonHandlingofAdministrativeSanctionsexplicitlyplacesburdenofproofwiththoseenforcingthelawratherthansuspects.

• FisheriesLawpromotesoffshorefishing,whichcouldconflictwithsustainablemanagementoffisheriesresourcesinoffshoreareas.

• Largenumberofregulationsandissuingbodiesleadstodifficultyidentifyingactiveregulations.

4. METHODS

The study was conducted through a combination of field observations, review of online platforms,interviews with stakeholders, analysis of trade and seizure data from third-party organizations andreview of publicly-available literature. Data gathered from these methods focused mainly oninformation(pastandpresent)relatingtopresenceandprevalenceoftradeactivities,thetypesoftradeconducted, brief insights into perceived conservation impacts from the trade activities, and existingmanagementpractices. Thedatagatheredwerefurtheranalysedtoidentifytrendsintrade.Duetotimeconstraintshowever, thenumberof areas surveyed for turtle trade in the three countrieswaslimited to just key locations (hotspots) known to trade in turtle products based on past studies

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conductedinthesethreecountries(TRAFFIC,2004;Profauna,2007;TRAFFIC,2009;TRAFFICSoutheastAsia,2009).Thisisfurtherlimitedinrelationtoanyseasonalityoftrade,particularlyinmeatandeggs(e.g.poachingofmarineturtlesandeggsishigherduringnestingperiods,whichvariesforspecies ineachcountry),consideringthatthecurrentsurveyswereone-off. Duetothis,adesktopsearchwasundertakentosupplementthedatacollectedthroughsurveywork. Further,30peoplefromvariousstakeholders(e.g.governmentagencies,NGOs,individualsworkingonmarineturtleresearch,etc)werecontactedfortradeinformationwherepossible.AcompletelistofstakeholdersengagedisprovidedinAnnex III. However, forthcoming datawas limited, given the time requested for information to beprovided,theshortnoticegivenintryingtomeetupwithstakeholdersconsideredauthoritiesonthesubject,reluctanceofstakeholderstoprovideillegaltradedata,etc.4.1 Seizure analysis ThisstudylookedatseizuredatarelatingtomarineturtlesforIndonesia,MalaysiaandVietNamfortheperiodbetweenJanuary2015andAugust2018.Thisseizureperiodwaschosentoenableanassessmentofmarineturtletraffickingdynamicsthatisreflectiveofamorecurrentscenario.Seizureincidentsthatoccurredpriorto2015aredescribedwhererelevant,butnotincludedintheoverallanalysis.Datawasextractedfromvarioussources,includingTRAFFICseizuredatarecords,mediareports,greyliteratureand records from other non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Seizures concerning live or deadanimalsand/ortheirpartsandderivativesthatweremadeinIndonesia,MalaysiaandVietNamwereincludedintheanalysis.Seizuresconcerningbothnationalandinternationaltradewereincluded.Dataextractedfromeachseizure,whereavailable,includedinformationondateandplaceofseizure,originanddestinationaswellascommoditiesandquantitiesseized. Dueto the informationgaps insomeseizurerecords,notallrecordedturtlesintradecouldbeidentifiedtothespecieslevel.Forthepurposeof this analysis, the reported seizure data was assumed to be accurate. Records were checked forduplicates,andwheretheinformationfromseizuresappearedsimilar,thesewereeliminatedfromtheanalysistoavoidinflationofthedata. Whereturtlespeciesseizedwereprovidedwithintherecordsobtained,thespeciesindicatedwereacceptedasbeingtrue.Whereavailable,traderoutes(bothdomesticandinternational)wereextractedfromseizurerecords.Inthisinstance,a“seizurecountry”wasdefinedasthecountrywheretheseizuretookplace.Seizurecountrieswereclassifiedassource-,transit-ordestinationcountries.A“sourcecountry”wasdefinedas the first known point of a trade route, a “transit country” was defined as a country which hadfunctionedorwasintendedtofunctionasbothanimportingandare-exportingcountryinthetraderoute,anda“destinationcountry”wasdefinedasthelastknownorreportedpointofatraderoute.Giventheinconsistentwayseizuresandenforcementactionsarereportedandrecordedbythedifferentcountriesinthisstudy,itisunlikelythattheavailabledatasetisrepresentativeoftherealnumberofincidents involving marine turtles that have taken place during the research period. Due to theinherentlycovertnatureof the illegalwildlife trade, its trueextent isunlikely tobe reflectedby thereported seizure data alone. However, seizure data is inherently influenced by a number of biases,includingvaryinglevelsoflawenforcementineachcountry,differentreportingandrecordingpracticesof both law enforcement andmedia, variability in NGO behaviour and advocacy, different levels ofcorruption, languagebiases,peakturtlenestingseasons,etc. Therefore,ahighernumberofseizurerecordsinonecountrymaynotnecessarilytranslateintohigherwildlifetraffickinglevelsincomparisontoothercountries.

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4.2 Market surveys PhysicalmarketsurveyswereundertakeninkeylocationsbylocalconsultantsandpartnerorganisationsbetweenJanuaryandJuly2018inIndonesia,MalaysiaandVietNam(Figure2).Ateachlocation,surveyswereconductedbyrecordingthetypesofturtleproductsofferedforsaleandprices(Table5).Wherepossible,conversationswereheldwithlocaltraders,togatherinsightsintosourceandrelevanttradedynamics, tough no information on turnover rates were provided. Due to the timing of thecommissioningandexpectedcompletiondate,fieldresearchwasnotconductedduringthepeaknestingseasonofApril–August.In Indonesia,atotalof61locationsknownasturtlenestingsitesortohavetradeinturtlepartsandproductswerevisitedi.e.eightinJava,30locationsinBali,11locationsinPadang,WestSumatraand12 locations in Sulawesi. These locations included turtle nesting beaches, hatcheries, tourist turtleattractions,localfisheriesportsandmarkets.EighteensouvenirandaccessoriesshopswerealsovisitedinBalitoassesstheextenttowhichturtleshellproductswerestillbeingsold.In Malaysia, the states known (TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, 2009; WWF-Malaysia and Sabah WildlifeDepartment,2018) to have an active trade inmarine turtle products -Melaka, Sabah, Sarawak andTerengganu-werevisited. Surveyswereconductedoveraspanof17daysatwet,dryandsouvenirmarketsateachlocation.Atotalof24marketsacross10locationsweresurveyed,asummaryofwhichisprovidedinTable5.InVietNam,physicalmarketsurveysformarineturtleproductswereconductedbyEducationforNature–VietNam(ENV)betweenJanuaryandApril2018. Duringthephysicalsurveyatotalof436outlets(includingsouvenirshops,markets,andjewelleryshops)werevisitedinfivecities:Hanoi,HaTien,HoChiMinhCity,NhaTrangandVungTau(Table5).

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Figure2:LocationsofphysicalmarketsurveysinIndonesia,MalaysiaandVietNambetweenJanuaryandJuly2018

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Table5:PhysicalmarketsurveylocationsinIndonesia,MalaysiaandVietNambetweenJanuaryandJuly2018

Country Dates Locations Venues NumberofVenuessurveyed

Description

Indonesia April–July2018

EastandWestJava

Turtlenestingbeaches,hatcheriesandtouristturtleattractions

8 LocationsincludedPramukaIsland,HarapanIsland,KelapaDuaIsland,PangumbahanSukabumi,inWestJava;CemaraBeach,PantaiRejo,Banyuwangi,SukamadeBeach,MeruBetiriNationalPark,NgagelanBeachAlasPurwoNationalPark,BoomBeachinEastJava.

Bali Turtlenestingbeaches,hatcheriesandtouristturtleattractions

12 BeachesandshopsvisitedinKuta,Sanur,Ubud,andGianyarareasofBali.

Souvenirshops(Kuta,Denpasar,SanurandUbud)

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WestSumatra

Turtlenestingbeaches,hatcheriesandtouristturtleattractions

11 Padangandadjacentareaswerevisitedtoassessthecurrentstateofthetradethere,particularlyofturtleeggs,whichwereformerlysoldtherequiteopenlyandinlargequantities.

Sulawesi Turtlenestingbeaches,markets,localfisheriesports

12 LocationsincludedMorowali(CentralSulawesi),PolewaliMandarandMajene(WestSulawesi),andMinahasa(NorthSulawesi),Wakatobi,NothernButon,Bau-bauCity,KendariCity,NothernKolaka,Muna,SouthernKonawe(SoutheastSulawesi)

Malaysia April–June2018

Sabah Wetanddrymarketsandsouvenirshops

15 LocationsincludedTawau,Semporna,LahadDatu,Sandakan,KotaKinabaluandKudat.

Sarawak Wetanddrymarkets 5 LocationssurveyedincludedSerikinandKuching.

Terengganu Wetanddrymarketsandsouvenirshops

3 KualaTerengganutown.

Melaka Wetmarket 1 Klebangtown.VietNam January

–April2018

Hanoi Souvenirshops,markets,andjewelleryshops

88 UndertakenbyENVanddatasharedwithTRAFFICforthisstudy.

HaTien 41HoChiMinhCity

139

NhaTrang 118VungTau 50

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4.3 Online surveys InIndonesiaandMalaysia,onlinesurveyswereconductedoveraonemonthperiodbetween15Julyand15August2018focussingoncommercialportalsadvertisingturtleproductsforsaleandFacebook(Table6).Onehoureachdaywasspentsearchingandgatheringasmanyadvertsaspossibleonmarineturtle products offered for sale in each country. Data extracted from each advertisement, wherepossible, includedlocationofseller,typeofturtleproductforsale,quantityandprice. SearchtermsusedduringtheonlinesearcheswereinEnglish,Malay/IndonesianandMandarin(Table6).InVietNam,theonlinemarketsurveyformarineturtleproductswasconductedbyEducationforNature–Vietnam (ENV) between on 26-27March 2018 for seven hours each day (total of 14 hours). Fivekeywordswereused for the survey (Table6). Theonline survey includedsearchenginesand socialmediawebsites(exactnumberofsurveyedplatformsnotprovided).Table6:OnlinesurveydetailsconductedinIndonesia,MalaysiaandVietNam,2018

Country Date KeyTermsUsedIndonesiaandMalaysia

15July-15August2018

InEnglish:seaturtles,marineturtles,turtlemeat,andturtleeggsInLocallanguage(Malay/Indonesian):penyu,telurpenyu,telorpenyu,baranganpenyu,antikpenyu,dagingpenyuInMandarin:

� seaturtle),� (seaturtleeggs),� (seaturtlemeat)

VietNam 26-27March2018

InVietnamese:Đồimồi(HawksbillTurtle),Rùabiển(marineturtle),Lượcđồimồi(bekkocomb),Đồimồimỹnghệ(bekkohandicraft)

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5. RESULTS

5.1 Marine Turtle Seizures

5.1.1 Seizure Records and Commodities Seized A total of 153 marine turtle seizure records were obtained for Indonesia, Malaysia and Viet NambetweenJanuary2015andAugust2018(Table7).Afulllistofseizurerecords,includingthesourceofinformation is provided in Annex IV. Most seizure records obtained involved Indonesia (45.6%),followedbyVietNam(30.7%)andMalaysia(23.5%).Table7:Numberofseizurerecordsinvolvingmarineturtles,partsandproductsthathaveoccurredinIndonesia,MalaysiaandVietNambetween2015anduptoAugust2018

CountryofSeizure 2015 2016 2017 2018 TotalIndonesia 12 31 12 15 70Malaysia 6 14 12 4 36VietNam 7 18 10 12 47Total 25 63 37 31 153

Source: Datawas extracted from various sources, including TRAFFIC seizure data records,media reports, greyliteratureandrecordsfromothernon-governmentalorganizations(NGOs)(refertoAnnexIVforacompletelistofseizurerecordsandsourcesofinformation).

A diverse range of commodities were seized in the 153 records involving Indonesia, Malaysia andVietNam, broadly including eggs, whole specimens, shells and meat. A full breakdown of thecommoditiesseizedinthethreecountriesisprovidedin(Table8).Ofthese,marineturtleeggswerethemostabundant commodity seized,particularly inMalaysia. Thiswas followedby seizureof livemarineturtles(mostlyinMalaysia)andturtleshells(mostlyinIndonesia).Figure3illustratesasummaryofseizuresandcommoditiesofmarineturtles,partsandproductsoverthisperiod.Thespeciesofmarineturtleinvolvedwasnotspecifiedinallseizurerecords(Figure4).Howeverwherethis informationwasavailable (n=102 incidents),GreenTurtlewasthemost frequentspeciesseized,reportedin36%ofincidents,followedbyHawksbillTurtle,reportedin18%ofincidents.Overall,thisamountedtoaminimumof2,310wholespecimens,quantifiedintermsoflive,deadandtaxidermiedcommoditiesseizedwhichrepresentwholeanimals. Ofthis,GreenTurtleshadthehighestnumberswithaminimumof399wholeanimals,followedbyHawksbillTurtlewith173,LeatherbackTurtlewith72,andOlive-RidleyTurtlewith8. Itwasnotpossible todeterminehowmanywholeanimalswerederivedfromthequantityofmeatandshellproductsseized.Abreakdownofcommoditiesseizedbyspeciesidentified,wherethiswasavailable,isprovidedinTable9.Table8:MarineturtlecommoditytypesandtotalquantitiesseizedinIndonesia,MalaysiaandVietNambetween2015andAugust2018

Commoditiesseized Indonesia Malaysia VietNam Total

Eggs 14,528 67,962 1,626 84,116

Wholespecimens 2,310

Live 586 1,201 49 1,836

Dead 63 225* 12** 300

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Taxidermied/stuffed 18 0 156 174

Shells 2,658

Unprocessedshells(pieces) 970*** 53 0 1,023

Unprocessedshells(kg) 609 127 3 739

Processedshells(souvenirs,jewellery) 936 0 0 936

Meat(kg) 526 153 8 687

Source: Datawas extracted from various sources, including TRAFFIC seizure data records,media reports, greyliteratureandrecordsfromothernon-governmentalorganizations(NGOs)(refertoAnnexIVforacompletelistofseizurerecordsincludingcommoditiesseizedandsourcesofinformation).Note:Atleastfourseizurerecordsdidnothavequantitiesofseizedproductsreportedi.e.*oneseizureinMalaysiaof turtleorgans;**oneseizure inVietNaminvolvinga40ftcontainercontainingdeadandtaxidermiedmarineturtlesaswellasdried lizardsthatreportedlynumbered in thethousands;and***twoseizures in IndonesiaofHawksbillTurtleshells.Table9:Commoditiesseizedperspeciesbetween2015andAugust2018

CommoditySeized GreenTurtle HawksbillTurtle Leatherback

TurtleOlive-Ridley

TurtleUnknown/Unreported

Live 364 39 71 6 1,259Dead 23 52 225Taxidermied 12 82 1 2 78Shell(pieces) 33 964 23Shell(kg) 127 612Shell(processed) 382 554Eggs 22,441 150 61,525Meat(kg) 209 478

Note:Notincludedinthetableisafurthertwoseizuresinwhichallfourspecieswereidentifiedasbeingseizedwithatotalof95liveindividuals,howeverabreakdownforeachspecieswasnotprovided,inwhichcasenumberswilldifferfromthetotalofwholeindividualsseizedinthetextabove.

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Figure3:Summaryofmarineturtles,partsandproductsseizedfromJanuary2015–August2018.

Source: Datawas extracted from various sources, including TRAFFIC seizure data records,media reports, greyliteratureandrecordsfromothernon-governmentalorganizations(NGOs)(refertoAnnexIVforacompletelistofseizurerecordsincludingcommoditiesseizedandsourcesofinformation).

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Figure4:TheproportionofmarineturtlesseizedbyspeciesinIndonesia,MalaysiaandVietNambetween2015andAugust2018.Basedonatotalnumberof153incidentsalthoughnotethatinsomeseizurerecordsmorethanonespeciesofmarineturtleisreportedasseizedwhichisincludedinthepercentagereportedforeachspecies.

SeizuresoutsideIndonesia,MalaysiaandVietNamthatimplicatedthemTherewereatleasteightotherseizurerecordsthattookplaceoutsideIndonesia,MalaysiaandVietNamfrom2016-2017, but implicated them in the international traffickingofmarine turtles. Six of theseoccurredinChinainwhichbothIndonesiaandVietNamwerethereportedorigins,andtheremainingtwo occurred in France and the Philippines respectively, with Viet Nam reported as the intendeddestinationinbothcases(Table10).Frenchauthoritiesestimatedthatthe496kgofHawksbillshellsseizedrepresentedaminimumof380marineturtles.This, incombinationwiththetaxidermied, liveanddeadturtlesseized(Table10)areestimated toamount toaminimumof782HawksbillTurtleswereseized fromtheseeight incidentsalone.Theseseizuresareprovidedheretoillustratethepresenceofinternationaltraffickingofmarineturtles in theAsian region,however theyareexcluded from in-depthanalysis considering therewasinsufficienttimetoconductathoroughsearchofseizuresthathaveoccurredgloballybutwhichindicateIndonesia,MalaysiaorVietNamaseithersource,destinationortransitcountries.Table10:RecentexamplesofseizurerecordsthatoccurredoutsideofIndonesiaandVietNambutthatimplicatebothcountriesintheinternationaltraffickingofmarineturtles

Year CountryofSeizure

Locationofseizure

Originofshipment

Destinationofshipment

Commodityseized

Quantity Species

2017 France CharlesdeGaulleAirport

Haiti VietNam shell 496kg(~380whole

specimens)

HawksbillTurtle

2017 China Fangchenggang(Guangxi)

VietNam China taxidermied 38 HawksbillTurtle

2017 China Fangchenggang(Guangxi)

VietNam China taxidermied 2 HawksbillTurtle

GreenTurtle(36%)

HawksbillTurtle(18%)

OliveRidleyTurtle(3%)

LeatherbackTurtle(2%)

Unknown(42%)

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2016 China Xiamen Indonesia China taxidermied 1 Notspecified

2016 China Fangchenggang(Guangxi)

VietNam China live 153 HawksbillTurtle

2016 China Xiamen Indonesia China shell 33 HawksbillTurtle

2016 China Fangchenggang(Guangxi)

VietNam China dead 109 HawksbillTurtle

2016 Philippines Palawan Philippines VietNam dead 100 HawksbillTurtle

5.1.2 Hotspots and Routes Asummaryofseizures in thethreecountriesbetweenJanuary2015andAugust2018 isprovided inFigure5.Ofthetotal70incidentsrecordedinIndonesia,Baliwasthemostfrequentseizurelocationwith24%(n=17incidents)(Table11).Thismostlyinvolvedliveturtlesandmeat.Asidefromthis,WestKalimantan,EastJava,EastKalimantanandNusaTenggaraEastwerealsonotableinmakingseizures,involvingacombinationofallcommoditytypes,exceptmeat.Table11:MainseizurelocationsinIndonesiabyprovinces,betweenJanuary2015andAugust2018(refertoAnnexIVforcompletelistofseizurerecordsandsourcesofinformation)

Indonesia 2015 2016 2017 2018 TotalBali 4 7 2 4 17WestKalimantan 1 5 1 7EastKalimantan 3 2 5

EastJava 3 1 1 5NusaTenggaraEast 1 4 5SouthSulawesi 3 1 4

Papua 2 1 3Sulawesi 2 1 3NorthSulawesi 1 2 3Banten 1 1 2Maluku 2 2CentralSulawesi 2 2WestSulawesi 2 2Aceh 1 1Jakarta 1 1CentralJava 1 1

WestJava 1 1CentralKalimantan 1 1

RiauIslands 1 1NusaTenggaraWest 1 1WestPapua 1 1Bengkulu 1 1SouthSumatra 1 1Total 11 32 12 14 70

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InMalaysia, themajority of seizures occurred in the state of Sabah,with Sandakan being themostfrequent seizure location (Table 12). All incidents in Sandakan involved the seizure of eggs (n=22incidents).Inatleast12oftheseincidents,theseizuresweremadeofftheSandakancoast.Table12:MainseizurelocationsinMalaysiabystate,betweenJanuary2015andAugust2018(refertoAnnexIVforcompletelistofseizurerecordsandsourcesofinformation)

State 2015 2016 2017 2018 TotalSabah 5 14 12 3 34Sarawak 1 1 2Terengganu 1 1Total 6 14 13 4 37TheProvinceofVungTauandHoChiMinhCityinVietNamwerethemostfrequentseizurelocations,with10and8incidentsrespectivelyofatotalof42records(Table13).Thismostlyinvolvedtheseizureoftaxidermied,eggsandliveturtles.Table13:MarineturtleseizuresinVietNambyProvincebetweenJanuary2015andAugust2018(refertoAnnexIVforcompletelistofseizurerecordsandsourcesofinformation)

Province 2015 2016 2017 2018 TotalVũngTàu 5 4 1 10HoChiMinh 1 5 2 8HaLong 1 2 3QuảngNgãi 1 1 1 3KienGiangProvince 3 3BinhThuan 2 2CàMau 2 2DaNang 1 1 2BắcKạn 1 1BacLieu 1 1BếnTre 1 1HaNoi 1 1HaiPhong 1 1NhaTrang 1 1PhúQuýIsland 1 1PhanRang–ThápChàm 1 1PhúYên 1 1QuảngNam 1 1TháiBình 1 1ThừaThiên–Huế 1 1Unknown 2 2Total 7 18 10 6 47Whenassessingseizuresmadeinthethreecountriesaswellasthosemadeoutsidebutimplicatedthem,at least 43 trade routeswere recordedbetween January 2015 andAugust 2018. This involvedbothdomestictraderoutes,mostlyinvolvingIndonesiaandMalaysia(Figure6)andinternationaltraderoutes(Figure7).

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In termsofdomestic traderoutes, theseweremostlyapparent for Indonesia (n=17 incidents)whichlargelyinvolvedlivemarineturtlesandeggs.ThemostfrequenttraderoutesusedwerefromMaduraIslandstoBali(revealedinatleast6incidents,allinvolvingliveturtles)followedbyfromRiauIslandstoWestKalimantan(revealedinatleast3incidents,allofturtleeggs).Fromthe17incidents,seawasthemore common (76%) mode of transporting marine turtle commodities within Indonesia, with theremainderbeingtransportedbyair.InonlyoneincidentinMalaysiaadomestictraderoutewasreported-theshipmentof365eggsbyairfromKotaKinabalu,Sabah(EastMalaysia)tothestateofKelantaninPeninsularMalaysia(shippedbyair).Therewere26incidentsrevealingtheinternationaltraffickingofmarineturtles,partsandderivatives.Ofthese,Chinawasimplicatedasadestinationcountryinatleast11incidents,withoriginsreportedasIndonesia(n=7incidents)andVietNam(n=4incidents).ShipmentsfromIndonesiawereviaairandseawhereasforVietNamitwasmostlyby land, interceptedbyChinesecustomsattheGuangxiborder.Malaysiawasimplicatedasadestinationcountryinatleasttenincidents–alleggs,totalling52,840eggs.NineoftheseseizurestookplaceinSabah,mostlyreportedtobefromthePhilippineswiththeexceptionofone incident reporting that theeggswereheading toKelantan inPeninsularMalaysia. In theoneincident involving Indonesia, marine turtle eggs were being smuggled from Riau Islands to WestKalimantanbyseaandfromtherebylandacrosstheborderintoSarawak.TheeightincidentsinvolvingthePhilippinesasasourcewereofturtleeggs,meatandshellstoSabahviasea. VietNamwasalsoimplicatedasadestinationcountry inat leastsix incidents,withoriginsmostlyreportedasMalaysia(n=3incidents)involvingillegaltradeinbothliveanddeadmarineturtles,followedbyHaiti,IndonesiaandthePhilippineswithoneincidenteach.Inallincidents,shipmentsweremadeviasea,barringtheoneshipmentfromHaitiwhichwasinterceptedattheCharlesdeGaulleAirportinFrance.

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Figure5LocationofseizuresforIndonesia,MalaysiaandVietNambetween2015andAugust2018.AllseizurerecordsandsourcesofinformationarepresentedinAnnexIV.Numbersinbracketsrefertothenumberofseizuresinthatlocation.Wherenonumbersareprovided,thismeanstherearetwoorlessincidentsforthatlocation

36

Figure6:DomestictraderoutesforIndonesiaandMalaysiabasedonseizuredatabetween2015andAugust2018..AllseizurerecordsandsourcesofinformationarepresentedinAnnexIV.Thickerarrowsrefertothatparticularroutebeingmentionedthreeormoretimesinseizurerecords,whilethinnerlinesrefertheroutebeingmentionedonce.

37

Figure7:InternationaltraderoutesforIndonesiaandMalaysiabasedonseizuredatabetween2015andAugust2018.AllseizurerecordsandsourcesofinformationarepresentedinAnn

38

5.2 Physical Market and Online Surveys

5.2.1 Indonesia

Ofthe61locationsandoutletsvisited,only5locationssoldmarineturtleproductsopenly,inBaliandin

Sulawesi. Of the 18 souvenir shops visited, only two shops in Gianyar, Bali were found to be selling

productsmadefromturtleshells(Table14).Theturtleproductswererelativelyexpensiveastheywerecoveredinsilverandmotherofpearl(Photo1).TherewasnootherevidenceofturtleshellproductsinothersouvenirshopsvisitedinBali.

Table14:ShopsfoundsellingornamentsmadeoutofturtleshellsinBali,May2018

Date Location Typesofitemsrecordedforsale NumberofItems

PricePeritem

27May2018 Gianyar Smallornamentintheshapeofaturtle 1 IDR5,000,000

(~USD355)

Ornamentsmadefrompreserved

mediumandlargeturtles

2 “Notforsale”

27May2018 Gianyar Smallornamentintheshapeofturtles 2 IDR5,280,000

(~USD380)

Photo1Ornamentaltaxidermiedturtles(rightandleft)withsilveroverlay,Bali2018

Generally,theopensaleofmarineturtleproductsappearstohaveeitherdeclinedorhavebecomemore

discreetinSulawesi.Thisislikelyduetogreaterenforcementeffortincludingcollaborativeworkbetween

thelocalgovernment,police,NGOsandlocalcommunities.Ofthe12locationsvisited,turtleproducts

werefoundinthreelocationsandincludeddeadturtlesfortaxidermy,meat,eggsandproductssuchand

ringsandbraceletsmadefromturtleshells(Table15).

Table15:MarineturtleproductsforsaleinSulawesi,July2018

Location Sitesvisited Typesofitemsrecordedforsale

NorthSulawesi -TomohonMarket

-Minahasa‘TheExtreme’Market

Turtlemeatandbodyparts

WestSulawesi -‘PasarSentral’WonomulyoMarket Turtleeggs

39

SoutheastSulawesi -WameoMarket

-KamaliBeach

Braceletsandrings

Althoughnotvisitedduringmarketsurveys,MentawaiislandsandEastNusaTenggaraarereportedto

beasignificantsourceofturtleeggs,meatandshellproductsforsaleastheislandersherestillhavea

strongtraditionalcultureofcatchingandconsumingturtles(Damanhuriperscomm,2018;WWF-

Indonesiaperscomm,2018)(Photo2).Photo2MarineturtleproductsforsaleillegallyinMentawaiIslandsinSumatra(allphotosobtainedfromlocalsourcesi.e.H.Damanhuri(2015)and(Khalis2018)

(i)Preparation

ofturtlemeat

(ii)Turtleshell

braceletsfor

sale

40

(iii)Turtlestobe

slaughteredfor

theirmeat

Itwouldappearthatduringthepast15years,inanattempttoaddressthemarineturtletradeproblem

inIndonesia,theestablishmentofturtlehatcherieshaveincreasedaroundthecountry.Alistofturtle

hatcheriesvisitedduringthemarketsurveysandabriefdescriptionofeachisprovidedinAnnexV.Ingeneral, some of these establishments are more successful than others i.e. some are intended for

conservationpurposeswhileothersaspurelycommercialenterpriseswithlittleconservationvalue.In

thecaseofthelatter,suchcentershavebeenestablishedfortouristentertainmentandassuchlikelyto

notonlybedetrimentaltotheturtlestheykeepbutalsotowildpopulationswiththepotentialtransfer

ofdiseasesfromthereleaseofcaptiveturtles.Furthermore,suchcentersmayalsobeconduitsthrough

whichturtleeggsandmeataremoreeasilysold(Firliansyahetal.,2017);itisnotknowntowhatextentthismaybecurrentlyhappening.

Theopenavailabilityofproductsmadeoutofturtleshellsismoreapparentononlinemarketswithinthe

country,comparedtophysicalmarkets.Overaonemonthspan,aminimumof607individualitemsand

400gofeggswereofferedthrough213advertisementswererecordedoncommercialtradeplatforms

(Table16). Avarietyofproductswererecordedalthoughthismostlyinvolvedbraceletsbutalsodried

turtleeggpowder,reportedlyusedasfishbait,andturtleoil,advertisedasbeinggoodfortreatingskin

problems suchas acne, eczema, andother allergies. Mostof theadvertswere foundon commercial

internettradeplatforms-LazadafollowedbyShopee,andtoamuchlesserextent,TokopediaandPrelo.

Atleast106traderswererecorded,thoughtherewaslittleinformationprovidedintermsofsellerlocation

(only27advertshadseller location). Jakartawas themost frequent locationmentioned,noted in14

adverts.

Table16:Marineturtleproductsbeingadvertisedforsaleonline,JulytoAugust2018

TypeofProducts

Price Quantity NoofSites No.oftraders

Belt IDR1700000(~USD120) 1 1 1

41

BraceletIDR25000-IDR450000(~USD1.5O-USD31.50) 207 5 14

Driedturtleeggpowder

IDR4000-IDR54000(~USD0.30-USD7)

172packets 3 43

EarringsIDR44600–IDR194600(~USD3–USD13)

20pairs 2 7

Eggs IDR23000(~USD1.50) 400g 1 1

FanIDR750000–IDR1100000(~USD52–USD75)

4 2 2

HairClip IDR130900(~USD9) 1 1 1HairPin IDR50000(~USD3.40) 19 1 1

NecklaceIDR50000–IDR450000(~USD3.40–USD31.50)

24 2 3

RingIDR1000–IDR65000(~USD0.60–USD4.50)

31 2 4

SpectaclesIDR29000–IDR292000(~USD2–USD20) 13 3 10

TaxidermiedIDR600000–IDR12000000(~USD42–USD840) 7 2 5

TurtleOilIDR18500–IDR199000(~1.20–USD14) 107 3 13

Watchstrap IDR17500(~USD12) 1 1 1TOTAL 29 106

Note: USD exchange rate based on https://www.oanda.com/currency/converter/ as of August 2018. Quantitiesprovidedshouldbeinterpretedwithcautionasitwasnotalwayspossibletodetermineduplicateswhereproductssuchasdriedturtleeggpowderandturtleoilwereadvertisedforsale.Thisissimilarwithjewellerywherequantitieswerenotstatedbutjustapictureprovided.Itshouldalsobenotedthatsometraderssellmorethanonetypeofturtleproductparticularlywherejewelleryitemslikenecklace,braceletsandringsareconcerned.

5.2.2 Malaysia MarineturtleproductswerefoundinthreeofthefourStatessurveyedbeingsoldby18vendors(Table

17).Thelocaltradeofmarineturtlepartsandproductsappearstolargelyinvolveturtleeggswhileturtle

meatconsumedlocallyappearstocatermainlytoforeigntourists.Anecdotalinformationalsoseemsto

suggestthatturtlemeatfromMalaysiaisnowbeingtradedtoChina.Whileliveturtleswerenotobserved

forsaleduringmarketsurveys,thetradeofliveturtleshasbeennotedinSabah,whereturtlesarehunted

andsoldfirsttomiddlemenandthenforeignfishermen,withpricesrangingfrom100/kg(USD25)perkilo

fordriedmeat,up toMYR1300 (USD327) for small-sizedor juvenile turtles (WWF-MalaysiaandSWD,

2018). Open tradewas recorded inat least three states– Sabah, SarawakandTerengganu,withan

estimatedminimumof1250eggsoffered(Table17).Eggsappearedtobeofferedatthelowestpricein

Sarawak(wheretradeisillegal),atMYR2(USD0.50)peregg,withpricesofuptoMYR6(USD1.50)peregg

inTerengganuwheretheeggtradeislegal.Domestictradeappearstobemainlyfocusedontheselling

andpurchasingofturtleeggsandmeatforconsumption.(Table17).

Table17:SummaryofresultsfromthephysicalmarketsurveyofturtleproductsinMalaysiabetweenAprilandMay2018

State Venuetype/locality

Numberofoutletsvisited

Typeofitemsrecordedforsale

Quantity Price

Melaka Wetmarket 1 None NA NA

42

Sabah Wetanddry

markets

14 None NA NA

Souvenir

shops

3 None NA NA

Roving

traders*

Upto10traders

wereobservedin

Sandakan;1to2

inothertowns.

Eggs Approx.50

eggs/trader

- RM3.50/egg

(fresh)

(USD0.90)

- RM5.50/egg

(boiled)

(USD1.40)

Sarawak Wetanddry

markets

4 Eggs Approx.50eggs

(onlyobservedat

onevendorin

Serikinmarket)

- RM20(USD0.50)

forteneggs(only

soldinbatchesof

10)

Souvenir

shops

1 None NA NA

Terengganu Wetanddry

markets

2 Eggs Approx.100–150

eggs/vendor

(atleast7vendors

observedselling

turtleeggs

RM4-RM6/egg

(USD1-USD1.50)

Souvenirshop 1 None NA NA

Note:*InalloftheareassurveyedinSabah,tradeofturtleeggsareconductedcovertlywithtraderscomprisingofindividualtraderswithnoestablishedbaseofsale.Traderstypicallyroamaroundtownapproachingpotentialbuyersthroughthe‘OK’sign,whichiscommonlyunderstoodtorefertoavailabilityofturtleeggsforsale.USDexchangeratebasedonhttps://www.oanda.com/currency/converter/asof26June2018.

Between15Julyand15August2018,onlyonepostwasrecordedduringthesurveyoncommercialtrade

portalsandFacebookofferingonebraceletforsalebyasellerlocatedinSelangor,beingsoldforMYR90

(USD22).Outsidethisresearchperiod,a21-hoursnapshotresearch,conductedinJune2018overone

week across 18 sites found only turtle eggs being offered – these offers were posted on Facebook.

Comparedtothesinglepostofferingthebracelet,theJunesurveyfoundnoevidenceoforganizedtrading

ofturtleeggspresent,withalltradeoffersmadebyindividualsonanad-hocbasis.Forthemostpart,

tradeobservedonlinefromtheJunesurveywaslocatedintheeastcoastPeninsularMalaysiastatesof

KelantanandTerengganu,withsomefromSabah. Eggswereofferedon individual trader’spagewith

pricerangingfromRM1(USD0.25)toRM5(USD1.25)pereggwithwouldbebuyersrequiredtocollectthe

eggsin-personatadesignatedlocation.Thevolumeofeggsbeingofferedforsaleonlineseemssmalland

isconductedonanopportunisticbasiswithtypicaloffersrangingfrom10to50eggs.

Asidefromthedemandforturtleeggsforconsumption,theredoesnotappeartobemuchdemandfor

productsmadeofturtleshellsorstuffedturtlesinMalaysia.Onlinetrade,althoughfoundsometurtle

eggs offered for sale, and the one turtle shell bracelet, appeared to be veryminimal. These findings

correspondwiththemarketsurveyresults.

5.2.3 Viet Nam Marine turtleproductswereobserved for sale in39of the436outlets surveyedby theEducation for

Nature-VietNam(ENV). MostofthesewereobservedinHaTien(n=9outlets),HoChiMinhCity(n=9

43

outlets) and Nha Trang (n=10 outlets). However, Ha Tien (23%) and Vung Tau (12%) had a higher

proportionofsurveyedoutletssellingmarineturtleproducts(Table18).

Table18:LocationsinVietNamobservedsellingmarineturtleproductsbetweenJanuaryandApril2018

Location OutletsSurveyed

Outletswithturtleproducts(No.)

Outletswithturtleproducts(%)

Hanoi 88 5 5.7%

HaTien 41 9 22%

HoChiMinhCity 139 9 6.5%

NhaTrang 118 10 8.5%

VungTau 50 6 12%

TOTAL 436 39 8.9%Source:ENV,2018.Note:SurveysbyENVarestillon-goingandassuchtheywereunabletosharequantitiesofitemsrecordedforsaleintimeforthisstudy.

MostoftheproductsobservedforsaleweremadefromHawksbillTurtleswithasmallnumbermadefrom

GreenTurtles (thesehoweverwerenot specified). Noother species ofmarine turtlewerepositively

identified on themarket. The products observedweremostly small personal items (bracelets, fans,

combs,pendants)except for trophies (indicatingwholepreservedspecimens). Although theabsolute

numberof itemsobservedwasnotavailable,braceletsweremostfrequentlyobserved(in31outlets),

followedbytrophies(in15outlets).

Similar findings were observed by TRAFFIC in 2016, 2017 and 2018, during general physical market

monitoringwithinVietNam.Atleast199marineturtleproductswereofferedforsaleinfivecitiesinViet

Nam(Table19)at15differentoutlets.Notably,11ofthoseoutletswereobservedofferingmarineturtle

productsonmorethanoneoccasion,withatleasttwooutletsofferingproductsonfouroccasions.Allthe

products observed were from Hawksbill Turtles and most of these were either bangles or bracelets

(n=148).

Table19:MarineturtleproductsobservedforsaleinfourcitiesinVietNambetween2016,2017and2018

Location No.ofProductsHaLong 13

Hanoi 87

HoChiMinhCity 83

MongCai 2

NhaTrang 14

TOTAL 199Source:TRAFFIC,unpublisheddata

DuringtheonlinesurveyconductedbyENV,atotalof25individuals(uniqueonlineaccounts)werefound

tobesellingmarineturtleproductsonlinevia42differentadvertisements/posts. Aswiththephysical

market,mostoftheproductsobservedforsaleonlineweresmallpersonalitems(bracelets,fans,glasses,

fingerpicks)inadditiontotrophies.Meatwasobservedforsaleononeoccasion(quantitynotprovided).

Noinformationwasprovidedregardingthespeciesortheabsolutenumberofproductsobserved.

44

6. DISCUSSION

6.1 Domestic Trade Dynamics 6.1.1 Indonesia Thefollowinginformationisbasedoninformationobtainedthroughconversationsanddiscussionswith

relevantstakeholdersaswellasdataextractedfrommarketsurveys,seizuredataandexistingliterature

toprovideanunderstandingofthetradedynamicsrelatedtomarineturtlesinIndonesia.

ThetradeofmarineturtlesandtheirproductsappearstobewidespreadinIndonesiawithturtleeggs,

meatandshellsstillindemandlocally.Stricterenforcementandmediacoverageofseizuresisthought

tohaveledtogreaterawarenessamongthegeneralpublicabouttheprotectedstatusofmarineturtles.

Thisappearstohavedriventhetradeinliveturtles,meat,eggsandshellproductslargelyunderground

withaccurateinformationnowmuchhardertocomeby.Regardless,thewidespreadnumbersofreports

fromthroughoutthearchipelagoindicatethatthistradecontinues.Similarly,theopensaleofturtleshell

product appears to be limited in physicalmarkets, compared to TRAFFIC’s previous surveys in 2009.

However,theonlinesurveyrevealedanactivetrade inmarineturtleproductssuchas jewellerymade

fromturtleshells,fishbaitpowdermadefromdriedturtleeggsandturtleoil.

Whileitismoredifficulttoidentifyindividualtrade'hotspots'forexport,bigcitieswithports,andsmaller

ports and harbours everywhere provide easier trade routes than using flights. A number of seizures

occurringwithinIndonesianwaterswithWestSumatra,Java,Kalimantan,Sulawesi,andfurthereast,in

Papuaalsohighlighttheseareasasmaintradinghubs(SeeSection5formoreinformationonseizures).

Local consumption and sales ofmarine turtles, eggs and products are reported to be taking place at

roadside stalls andvillage/small townmarketsnearer to thenestingbeachesandportswhere fishing

boatsmightbeabletobringliveanddeadturtlesashore.Itisreasonabletoassumethat,inmostplaces

whereturtlesarenestingorfeeding,therewillbesomelocalconsumptionand/orsaleofmeatandeggs.

Asmentionedabove,thecoastsofWestSumatra,Java,Bali,Kalimantanandperhapstoalesserextent

butstillsignificant,Sulawesi,MalukuandPapua,havetradehubsinthebiggercities. Theseareasare

likelybeingsupplied(mostlybyboat)fromthethousandsofsmallerislands.

Anothertrendthatmaybeofconcernisthesaleofmeatfromfreshwatersoftshellturtles(Trionichidae)

asmarineturtlemeat.Giventheunprotectedstatusandcaptivebreedingofmanysoftshellturtlespecies,

togetherwiththeconfusionamongthepublicaboutthedifferencesbetween landturtles (kurakura),softshellturtles(labi labi/bulus)andmarineturtles(penyu)andgrowingpublicawarenessthatmarine

turtlesarenotallowedtobecollectedandusedasmeat,highlightsthepotentialthreat/exploitationof

otherturtlespeciestomeetmarketdemandformarineturtlemeat(Anonperscomm,2018).

Followingtheincreasedenforcementofregulationsrelatingtothesaleandconsumptionofturtlesand

their products, some communities (notably in Bali) have opened ‘turtle attractions’ that attract large

numbers of fee-paying tourists. Permits are issued by BKSDA (the Nature Conservation arm of the

Government),andthesefacilitiesmayincludehatcheriesandlargenumbersofyoungandadultturtles.

Toobtainthenecessarypermits,facilitiesareestablishedforthepurposeofconservation,althoughthis

isnotalwaysthecase(seeAnnexV).

45

Onasmallerscale,butnolessimportant,arereportsoftraditionalpracticestocapturespecimens,where

hunting expeditions targeted atmarine turtles are sometimes practiced6. Variousmethods are used

offshoreincludingallsortsofnets,orbyspearingtheturtlefromabovethroughthecarapace(shellsof

turtles caught in thiswayhaveoneormorecharacteristicholes in the carapacewhere the spearhas

penetrated).Nestingturtlesarealsocaughtandbutcheredeitherbeforeorafterlayingtheireggs.This

reflects the widespread problem the authorities have in convincing local people to change long-

establishedtraditionalpractices.

af

AsummaryoftradeinsightsinkeyareasinIndonesiaisprovidedbelow.

KalimantanLying geographically close to other Asian countries, Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) presents many

opportunitiesforillegalsalesandsmuggling.Withitsextensivebordersandboundariesinbothlandand

sea,andrelativelylowhumanpopulationdensities,theIndonesianpartofBorneoisdifficulttopatroland

monitoreffectively.ItsproximitytoSumatraandthemanysmallislandsinbetween,makeitoneofthe

mainhubsformarineturtletrade,andalsoaconduit forexportofturtleproductstoothercountries.

KalimantanhasbeenhighlightedpreviouslyasahotspotforeggcollectionintheSoutheastAsianregion

withsignificantamountsbeingexportedtoEastMalaysia(SabahandSarawak)(IOSEA,2014).Itwould

appearthis isstillthecasewithat leasteightseizuresrecordedinKalimantanbetween2015andMay

2018amountingtoover13200marineturtleeggsseized.

ThetradeinsouvenirsmadefrommarineturtleshellsisreportedlyalsoontheriseinEastKalimantan

(Profauna, 2015). Based on market observations by Profauna in June 2015, over 700 marine turtle

productsfromHawksbillTurtleshellswereobservedforsaleinBerau(AjiDilayasmarketandtwoshops

inTanjungRedeb),EastKalimantan.Itincludedbangles,necklacesandbracelets,sellingfromIDR10,000

toIDR70,000peritem.Turtleeggswerealsoreportedtobesoldinthemarket.Priortothis,inOctober

2014,ProfaunareportedthesaleofHawksbillTurtleshellproductsinthesameareatotheauthorities

andasaresult,salestemporarilydecreasedupuntilFebruary2015.However,inJune2016,marineturtle

productswereonceagainevidentforsaleinthearea(Profauna,2016).In2016,therewereatleasttwoseizure records in Kalimantan of 135 souvenir products made out of marine turtle shells and two

taxidermiedmarineturtles7.

SumatraAccordingtoseveralreports,poachingofGreenTurtlesatseainSumatraforlocalmeatconsumptionwas

stillrampantasof2011.ThewestcoastofSumatra,fromAcehinthenorthwesttoLampunginthesouth

east, togetherwith hundredsof offshore islands, has numerousmarine turtle nesting beaches. Until

relativelyrecently,tradeofallkindsfromtownsandcitiesonthenorthandwestcoaststowardstheeast

andinlandwasmainlybyroad.Withincreasednumbersofinternalandinternational–flightsoperating

fromcitiessuchasPadang,therehasbeenanincreasedfrequencyofturtleproducts–particularlyeggs,

beingtransportedtootherpartsof IndonesiaandoverseastoneighbouringMalaysia. Becauseofthe

predominantlyIslamiccultureinSumatra,theeatingofturtlemeatisforbidden(haram).However,turtle

eggsappear tobecollectedandeatenbyMuslimsalmosteverywhere theyare found. Consumersof

turtlemeatontheotherhandaremostlynon-Muslims.Therewereonlythreerecentseizurerecordsfor

Sumatra. Twooftheseoccurred in2016 involvingtheseizureof20kgofmarineturtleshellsandone

6http://www.mycoraltriangle.com/coralweb/stories/details.aspx?id=187https://www.turtle-foundation.org/en/profauna-news-officials-seized-hundreds-of-sea-turtle-shell-based-souvenirs-from-market-in-berau-

east-kalimantan/

46

taxidermiedmarineturtlespecimen.Thethirdincidentoccurredin2018involvingtheseizureof59Green

Turtleeggsfromalocalfishermen.

JavaJavaappearstobeahotpotformarineturtlepoachingandtradeparticularlyineggsandmeat.Turtle

nestingbeachesarerecordedinmanyplacesalongthecoastofJava.InMay2018,eightsiteswerevisited

inJavatoassessthecurrentstateofturtlemanagementthere.Poachingofturtleeggswasreportedfrom

allsites.ThereisevidencetosuggestthatsomeofthismaybetomeetdemandinBalibasedonseizure

data.IncreasedsurveillanceatthenarrowferrycrossingpointfromBanyuwangiineastJavatoGilimanuk

innorthwestBalihasresultedinincreasedseizuresofmanykindsofillegalgoods,includingturtles.There

isalsoanecdotalevidencethatsuggeststhatturtleeggswerebeingcollectedalongthesouthJavacoast

and then sold to traders who in turn resold the eggs to turtle hatcheries in Bali. Mortalities during

collection,holdingandtransportarethoughttobeveryhigh. In2016,localQuarantineofficersseized

twoliveGreenTurtlesand150kgofturtlemeatinBanyuwangiwhichwerebeingcarriedinapickuptruck

ontheirwaytotheferry.TheturtlesaresaidtohavecomefromPulauRaas(offMaduraisland,offthe

northeasterncoastofJava),andwereontheirwaytoBalitobesold.InJanuary2018,severaltraders

werecaughtsellingturtlemeat,boughtfromsellersfromPasarAnom,EastJava.

BaliBali presents a special case in the storyof themarine turtle trade,because,unlikeMuslims,Balinese

Hindushavenoreligioustaboosagainsteatingturtlemeat.Onthebasisthatturtleswerea‘necessary’

partofHinduceremonies(traditionalpracticesarepartofanoraltradition,andnowrittenevidencehas

yetbeendiscoveredtosupportthis),Balihaslongbeenatraditionalcentreandhubfortheturtletrade-

particularlythatofliveturtles.ItwassaidthenthatifoneorderedbeeftoeatinBaliinthosedays,itwas

probablymorelikelytobeturtlemeat.

Intheyears1969-1999,beforeturtleswereofficiallyprotected,anestimated19628–30121animals

werecollectedperyear8.Baliwasprobablythecentreofthelargestdomesticexploitationofseaturtles

intheworld,aswellasbeingtheleadingexporterofseaturtleproducts(Barr,2001;TroëngandDrews,

2004;IOSEA,2014).BalihadthehighestnumberofseizuresrecordedforIndonesiabetween2015and

May2018mostly involvinglivemarineturtlesandtoalesserextentmarineturtleeggsandmeatwith

evidenceindicatingthisfeedsbothadomesticandinternationalmarket(seesection5.1.2).

In2018,theturtlemeattradehasbecomemuchmoresecretive.Withlessturtlesbeingopenlyavailable,

(likelyduetoperceivedstricterenforcement,greaterawarenessofthe law,andpossiblyalsobecause

fewer turtles are in the sea or on the beaches) it would appear that the trade has become more

opportunisticinnature.Localsreportthatifaturtleappears,andthereislessriskofbeingcaught,itwill

betakenandslaughteredfor itsmeat(Anonperscomm,2018). Informationfromavillager inTuban,

southBali(neartheairport)saysthatlocalpeopleinKedonganan(southoftheairport)willcontacteach

otherifthereisturtlemeatavailableforsale.

Several attempts have been made to start community-based turtle watch and protection schemes,

including one in the main tourist area of Kuta beach. Nevertheless, turtles continue to be used in

ceremonies, and a number of locations still have captive turtles for tourists to see and/or release

(althoughatleastsomeofthemmayactuallybebeingusedasholdingareas/transitplacesforturtlesto

8http://www.ioseaturtles.org/eleclib/Turtletrade_Bali.pdf

47

beusedinceremoniesortraded).Duringthepast15years,severallocalattemptshavebeenmadeto

addressthemarineturtletradeproblembyestablishingturtlehatcheryprogrammes.In2018,12turtle

hatcheriesandattractionswereidentifiedinBali.Someoftheseturtleegghatcheriesdoprovideastrong

conservation and education message. However, these are undermined by the establishment of

commercial turtle ‘attractions’ catered to tourists that have little conservation value. Rather, these

centresaremoredetrimentaltothemarineturtlestheykeep,becauseofpotentialdiseasetransferfrom

captiveturtlestothewildpopulation.Furthermore,theymayalsobeconduitsthroughwhichturtleeggs

andmeataremoreeasilysold.Theseobservationsareborneoutbyapaperfrom2017thatcoversmany

ofthesameissuesinBali(Firliansyahetal,2017).

Photo3ReportedmarineturtleconservationcentresestablishedinBenoa,Balialsoserveastouristattractions,2018

SulawesiConsideringthelargesizeofthisisland,togetherwithitssurroundingsmallerislandsandislandgroups,

there is surprisingly little informationabout this region concerning the trade inmarine turtles. In the

southwest,thecapitalMakassar(alsoknownasUjungPandang)hasabigportandlargeairport,andacts

asamajorcommunicationshubfortherestofIndonesia.Anecdotalevidencesuggestedthat,afterthe

tradeintoandoutofBalibecamemorecloselymonitoredandcontrolled,turtletradeactivitiesshiftedto

Makassar. Basedonrecentseizuredata(2015-May2018),afterBali,Sulawesihadthesecondhighest

numberofseizuresrecordedforIndonesiainvolvingmarineturtleshellsaswellasliveanddeadmarine

turtles.InformationcollectedfromlocalsduringrecentsurveysindicatesthatSulawesihasanactivetrade

in turtle products, from live turtles tomeat, eggs, taxidermied aswell as jewellery such as rings and

braceletsmadefromturtleshells.

ThecoastsofMorowali(CentralSulawesi)andPolewaliMandar(WestSulawesi),CangkeIsland(South

Sulawesi), Saponda Laut IslandandBau-BauButon (Southeastern Sulawesi) havebeendescribedas a

hotspotfortheillegaltradeinturtleeggs.Turtlemeatandpartscanbefoundinthe‘ExtremeMarket’or

TomohonMarketinMinahasa(WestSulawesi)whileturtleshelljewellerycanbefoundinWameoMarket

andKamaliBeach.AccordingtothelocalauthoritiesandNGOsinIndonesia,turtleexploitationinSulawesi

hasgenerallybeendecreasingasaresultof lawenforcementeffortandawarenessraisingcampaigns.

However,the illegalexploitationofmarineturtlesstillpersiststhroughoutthe islandsalbeit inamore

clandestinemanner.Tradersreportedlycommunicatewithbuyersusingmobilephonestoarrangeasafe

place tomeet rather thansellproductsopenly. Theyalso reportedlyprefer tomarket theirproducts

online-onlinesurveyshowedavarietyofproductsbeingadvertised,verifyingthisclaim(seeTable16).

Profauna(2007)lookedatseveralareasinsoutheastSulawesiin2007,andreportedthatfourareas((P.

Wanci.Moramo,ErekeandTikep)hadanactivetradeinturtles.TheyalsoreportedtradefromPadeiand

48

MasudihangIslandsinCentralSulawesi.Sulawesiwasgenerallythoughttosupplymarineturtleproducts

fortradeinBali(Profauna,2007).Someofthiswasalsoobservedduringthissurvey(Table15).Atleast

oneseizurerecordin2016indicatesthatthispotentiallystillcontinueswithashipmentof70liveGreen

TurtlesinterceptedinCentralSulawesiwhichwasreportedlyonroutetoBali.IneasternSulawesi,stuffed

(taxidermied)marineturtleswereseenbeingsoldopenlyinashopinLuwuk(late2007)andthevillagers

oftheBanggaiarchipelagoreportedtheywillcatchturtleswithspearsandeattheeggsiftheycomeacross

them(Anon,pers.comm.,2018)

TurtlenestingbeachescanbefoundthroughoutSulawesi.Someofthemoreprominentlocationsforthe

differentspeciesarenotedasfollows:

Ø NorthSulawesi:Green,Hawksbill,Leatherback(Kab.TalaudandMinahasa),OliveRidley,

Loggerhead(Kab.Minahasa)

Ø CentralSulawesi:Green,Hawksbill

Ø SoutheastSulawesi:Green,Hawksbill,Leatherback(Kab.Wakatobi)

Ø SouthSulawesi:Green,OliveRidley

Ø WestSulawesi:Green,Hawksbill,OliveRidley

Ø Gorontalo:Green,Hawksbill,Leatherback(DiyonumoIsland)

MalukuMalukuProvincehasaverylargenumberofsmallislandscoveringahugearea.Thereareturtlenesting

beachesinthenorthonPulauMororo(northofHalmahera)andcentrallyonAmbonandSeram.In1998,

itwasestimatedthatsome6,000to8,000GreenTurtleswerecaughtannuallyfortheBalinesemarket

(MossandVanDerWal,1998).Inthesoutheast,therearemorenestingbeachesintheKeiislands,and

wherethenumbersofjellyfishattractLeatherbackTurtlestofeed.TheKeiIslanderswereknowntohunt

thisspeciesforfood(SuarezandStarbird,1995),andthereforemusthavesomewayofneutralizingthe

toxinsinthemeat,theconsumptionofwhichhasbeenknowntokillpeopleelsewhere.TheAruIslands

tothewestofPapuahavemanynestingbeaches,andturtlesarereportedtohavebeencaughtandtraded

from this region for generations. Therewere only two seizures recorded forMaluku, both ofwhich

occurred in 2017 involving 88 livemarine turtles (six of which subsequently died) of various species

includingHawksbillTurtle,GreenTurtleandOlive-RidleyTurtle.

PapuaBeingtheeasternmost,remotestprovinceofIndonesia,muchofPapuaisdifficulttoaccess.Ingeneral,

thehumanpopulationdensityissmall,evenalongthecoasts,socollectionandsaleofturtleeggsappears

toberestrictedandlocal.Someexportofturtlesandturtleproductsfromportsinthebiggertownssuch

as Jayapura,Merauke,SorongandManokwariare thought tooccur. Indeed, therewereat least four

seizuresrecordedforPapua,occurringinJayapuraandSorongbetween2015andMay2018.Oneofthese

incidentsrevealedtheinternationaltraffickingof50deadHawksbillTurtlestoVietNamin2015.

6.1.2 Malaysia InMalaysia,thehuntingandtradeinmarineturtlesandproductsisbannedinSabahandSarawak,but

the licensing of egg collection is allowed in the states of Terengganu and Melaka (states that were

surveyed). Terengganu is considered an important tradinghub formarine turtle eggs. Eggs obtained

illegallyfromotherpartsofMalaysia(e.g.Sabah)aswellasneighbouringcountrieslikeIndonesiaandthe

Philippines, are subsequently sold openly and legally in the state of Terengganu, akin to a ‘money

launderingscheme’(MT-IOSEA,2014).Tradeappearstohaveremainedconstantinthestate–basedon

thecurrentmarket survey in2018,at least1,000eggswerebeingsolddailyatPasarPayang inKuala

49

Terengganu (estimated at 365,000 eggs annually). Turtle eggs are often acquired in large quantities,

demonstratedbyseizuresofupto19,000eggsinasingleseizure9,andeggsaregenerallystockedforsale.

Thisgenerallycorrelateswith theyearly totalof422,000eggswhichwasestimated in2009 (TRAFFIC,

2009). In Sabah, based on observations and interviews with local stakeholders, there is a general

perceptionthatopentradeofturtlepartsandderivativesisonadecline.Thisisattributedtoperceived

increasedenforcementactivitiesinrecentyears-thehighestnumberofseizureincidentswererecorded

in2016and2017(WWF-MalaysiaandSWD,2018).Nevertheless,thisdownwardtrendmaybea‘false

positive’asfurtherinquiriesrevealedablackmarkettradeinturtleeggsandmeat.

Sabah ThewestcoastofSabah,Kudat,Sandakan,andTawauareconsideredtobethemainareaswhereturtle

poachingandtradingofturtleeggsoccur,whiletradinghubsforturtlepartsandderivatives,including

eggs, appear to be centred inmajor towns of Sandakan and Semporna, coincidingwith known turtle

nesting sites (WWF-Malaysia and SWD, 2018). According to a study byWWF and the SabahWildlife

Department(2018),themodusoperandiforpoachingofmarineturtleshasseenashiftinrecentyears

throughanincreaseininvolvementoflocalcommunitymembers.Theselocalcommunitiesarepaidto

captureturtleswhicharethencollectedincentralizedlocationsforpackagingandsubsequentexportto

foreignmarkets,namelyChina,VietNamandthePhilippines(WWF&SWD,2018).Thereasonforthis

shiftisthoughttobeduetoincreasedmaritimesecuritymakingitdifficultforforeignvesselstodirectly

operateinMalaysianwaters(WWF&SWD,2018).Poachingisfoundtocoincidewithpeakturtlenesting

seasoninSabahwhichrunsfromMaytoAugustannually.Marketpricesofliveturtlescurrentlystandat

RM300/kgforfreshmeat,RM100/kgfordriedmeat,RM2,000forliveadultturtles,andRM1,300for

live juveniles. Turtles are transferred from the poaching location to the collection centre as whole

specimensorasparts(e.g.scales,calipee,andplastron)(WWF&SWD,2018).

AccordingtoaninterviewconductedwiththeheadoflocalcouncilenforcementunitinSandakan,amayor

of a Philippine Island stated during a meeting that turtle eggs make up one of their major exports.

InterviewswithvarioussourcessuggestcertainbordertownsinMalaysiasuchasSerikininSarawak,and

potentiallySempornainSabah,arebeingusedastransithubsforinternationaltradeofturtlepartsand

derivativesfortheSoutheastAsianregion(WWF&SWD,2018;MT-IOSEA,2014).AsreportedinWWF&

SWD(2018),itissuspectedthatturtleproductsarebeingcollectedinthesetownsbeforebeingpacked

andshippedtooverseasmarkets,particularlytomeetthedemandincertainpartsofChina.Areviewof

pressclippingsofpreviousseizuresmadeinSabah’sjurisdictionshowsthatmanyoftheturtleproducts

seizedeitheroriginatedfromthePhilippinesorIndonesiaandaredestinedforexporttowardsVietNam

orChina,thesearemainlyconsignmentswhicharetransferredbyboat.

TheopenavailabilityofturtleproductsforsaleinSabahwaslimited.Duringmarketsurveys,therewere

noturtleeggs,partsorderivativesforsaleatvenuesvisited.Rather,tradeofturtleeggsareconducted

covertlywithtraderscomprisingofindividualswithnoestablishedbaseofsale.Traderstypicallyroam

aroundtownapproachingpotentialbuyersthroughthe‘OK’sign,whichiscommonlyunderstoodtorefer

toavailabilityofturtleeggsforsale.ThisisapparentinanumberofplacesinSabah.Salesweremade

predominantlyto local residentswithsellersrefusingtoengagewithtourists,especiallywhentourists

madetheinitialapproach.EggsaresoldatMYR3.50(USD0.88)perfreshegg,withanadditionalMYR

2.00(USD0.50)chargedpereggforboiledeggs.Itwasreportedthateachtraderappearstohavearound

50–60eggsatanypointoftime,andwillreplenishtheirstockfromacentral‘warehouse’asandwhen

9https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2016/07/16/sabah-police-turtle-eggs/

50

necessary(MajlisPerbandaranSandakan,perscomms,2018).InSemporna,therealsoappearstobean

increasing level of trade in turtle meat through exotic dishes covertly offered by eatery outlets,

particularlytosatisfythedemandfromtourists.Theserestaurantsdonotengagedirectlywithpotential

customersbutgothroughatrustedthird-partyinstead.Productsmadeofturtleshellswerenotobserved

duringthemarketsurveys,withtheexceptionofasingletaxidermiedturtlehatchling,decoratedwith

mother-of-pearlshellsobservedinamarketinKotaKinabalu.Itwasnotbeingsoldbutjustdisplayedfor

ornamental purposes (Photo 4). Conversationswith souvenir traders found that theywere unable tosource forbekkoproducts in recent years due to a significant reduction in supply. Further inquiriesrevealedthatturtle-derivedproductscanstillbesourcedandareavailableforpurchase,however,these

areonlyofferedbycertainindividuals.

Frominterviewswithvarioustraders insouvenirshops inKotaKinabalu,Tawau,andKudat, itappears

thatmostoftheturtleproducts(e.g.turtlemeat,eggs,andshellsouvenirs)areeitherlocallysourcedfrom

SabahorimportedfromthePhilippines.Mostoftheturtlemeataresourcedlocallywithincertainareas

aroundSabah’smore remote islandsorbeaches suchas Ligitan,Denawan,Bum-BumandOmadal, in

Sempornaandareusedasmainslaughteringhubs(WWF-MalaysiaandSWD,2018).Inthesecases,the

turtleswerefoundtohavebeenslaughteredwiththecarapaceleft,whichsuggeststheywereslaughtered

formeatandnotforornamentalortraditionalmedicinepurposes.

Photo4Taxidermiedturtlehatchlingwhichwasoverlaidanddecoratedwithmother-of-pearlshellswasobservedinamarketinKotaKinabalu,2018

Traders interviewed in Sandakan and Kudat reported that turtle eggs are sourced locally from Sabah

suppliedbyfreelanceharvesters,andinsomecases,byindividualsfromenforcementagencies.Inthe

latter case, these eggs are reportedly derived fromeggs collected for conservationpurposes, but are

deliberatelyunder-reportedsoastosupplythemarketdemand.Somerespondentsalsorevealedthat

theyperiodicallyobtainmarineturtlemeatfromindividualsworkinginlocalenforcementagencieswho

themselvesareinvolvedinthemeatharvestingprocess.

51

AlargebutundeterminedamountofturtleeggsarereportedtobeexportedoutofSabahforsaleinother

areas,namelyTerengganu,wheresaleandconsumptionofturtleeggsarepermissible.Arespondentin

Sandakan,whodeclinedtobe identified,statedthatthis isan ‘opensecret’whereeggsarepacked in

markedcargowhicharethenairliftedtoPeninsularMalaysia,particularlyTerengganu,tobesoldtothe

public. Market surveys and interviews conducted in Terengganu for this study discovered that eggs

sourcedfromSabahdoendupinthemarketsofTerengganu.

Sarawak OnlyonevendorwasobservedsellingmarineturtleeggsattheSerikinmarket.SimilartoSabah,trading

of turtle eggswas being conducted in a covertmanner. Most of the vendorswere suspiciouswhen

inquiries were made regarding availability of turtle eggs. The turtle eggs observed for sale by one

particularvendorwasalsokeptataseparatelocationandonlyacquiredafterinquiriesweremade.Eggs

werebeingsoldatMYR2(USD0.50)peregg,althoughaminimumpurchaseof10eggswasrequired.It

wasestimatedthatthevendorwasinpossessionof50eggs.Whileotherproductsderivedfromother

wildlifewereshowcasedatamajorityofthestalls,observationsoftheproductsonofferdidnotreveal

anyproductsmadeofmarineturtleparts.Tradingofturtles,turtlepartsoreggswasnotobservedinany

ofthemarketsandshopsvisitedaroundKuchingcity.

Basedondiscussionswithturtleresearchers fromWWF-MalaysiaandUniversityMalaysiaTerengganu

(UMT)whichweremadeon25June2018inKuching,Sarawak,thesamemodusoperandiemployedby

poachersandtradersinSabahwereprevalentinSarawak.TheyalsoreportedthatthetownofSemantan

whichisconsideredtobeanactivetradinglocationforillegalwildlifeproducts,wasalsoknowntotrade

inmarineturtleproducts.Howeverduetotimeconstraintsthiscouldnotbevisitedintimeforthisstudy

butshouldbeconsideredforfuturesurveys.

Terengganu Basedoninterviewswithtraders,representativesofnon-governmentalconservationorganizations(e.g.

WWF-Malaysia) and researchers from local universities (i.e. UMT), trading hubs for turtle eggs are

consideredtobecentredwithinmajortownshipsofKualaTerengganu,KemamanandBesut.Turtleeggs

wereobservedopenlyforsaleinmarketswithmostofthetradeoccurringatPasarPayang,afamouswet

anddrymarketlocatedinthecentreofthestate’scapitalofKualaTerengganu(Photo5).Itwasobservedduringthesurveythateggsaresoldinthreecategoriesnamely‘fresh’whereeggshaveallegedlybeen

collected from local Terengganu beaches, ‘cooked’ where eggs have been boiled for immediate

consumption,and‘pickled’whichinvolveeggsthathadnotbeensoldandthereforepickledtoextendits

validity for consumption. The eggs were reportedly mainly sourced from nesting beaches around

Terengganu,ontheislandssuchasRedangandfromSabah.Sometradersinterviewedalsosaidthateggs

arebeingimportedfromotherstatesinPeninsularMalaysia,suchasKelantan,Pahang,andPerak(where

thetradeineggsisalsoconsideredlegal).Onetraderinterviewedrevealedthateggsthataresoldinbulk

areusually sourced fromSabahor imported fromneighbouring countries suchas thePhilippines and

Thailandwhichisagainstnationallaws.Theseeggsareimportedthroughvariousmeansincludingover

land,air,boatsandviapost.

Duringthemarketsurvey,atleastsevenvendorswereobservedsellinguptoanestimated1,000eggs

dailyatPasarPayanginKualaTerengganu,thelargestmarketinthestate.Generally,pricesofeggsranged

betweenfromMYR4–MYR6(USD1-1.50)peregg,dependingonthefreshnessoftheeggs,whichisslightly

higher than thosebeingoffered in Sabah. Although ‘buy-back’ schemesexist as administeredby the

52

DepartmentofFisheriesMalaysia(DOFM),thepriceofferedaresignificantlylowerthanthemarketvalue,

atlessthanRM2(USD0.50)peregg.

Photo5ObservationsofturtleeggssoldinTerengganumarkets,Malaysia,in2018

Melaka AsurveyconductedinthemarketsaroundKlebangareaon2May2018didnotrevealanyopentrading

ofturtlesorturtleparts,includingturtleeggs.EngagementwitharepresentativeofWWF-Malaysia(who

hasbeenactiveinundertakingturtleconservationactivitiesinthestatesincethe1980sincollaboration

withtheDOFM),revealedthatthereisnocommercialtradeinturtlepartsorproductsinthestate.Rather

theconsumptionofturtleeggsismainlyconductedbylocalresidentsonanopportunisticbasis.

Giventhewidespreaddistributionofturtlenestingsites inMalaysia, it isnotsurprisingthattherehas

beenhistorically,andremainpresently,alocaldemandforturtlepartsorderivatives,withconsumption

of turtle eggs especially being considered a norm and having become part of a particular area’s or

community’scustomsandtraditions.

ItisdifficulttoascertainthetruestatusoftheturtletradeinMalaysia,ortoidentifyifthetradebehaviours

havechangedtoasignificantdegreecomparedtowhatitwasinpreviousyears.Furthermore,itisalso

53

difficulttogaugetheeffectivenessofanymeasuresimplementedtomitigateimpactsfromtradeactivities,

particularlyconsideringthereislimitedinformationavailableontheseactivitiesthemselves.

6.1.3 Viet Nam DataonseizuresaswellasresultsofmarketsurveysconductedbyconservationNGOshavedemonstrated

thatthedomesticandinternationaltradeinmarineturtleproductsisstillactiveinVietNamtoday.Itis

challengingtodeterminewhethertheoverall levelsofcurrenttradearedeclining,stableor increasing

duetothelackofcomprehensivedataonseizuresandreliableinvestigationoftraderoutes.

In2002,TRAFFICundertookastudy(TRAFFIC,2004)onmarineturtletradeinthecountry,atatimewhen

thetradeinmarineturtleswasstilllegal10.Thisstudyfound29,000marineturtleproductsforsalein22

provinces,mostofwhichwere for ornamental purposes. Productsof four species (Green,Hawksbill,

LoggerheadandLeatherbackTurtles)werefound, inwhichthemajorityofspecimensand/orproducts

weremadefromHawksbill(98.6%).

In2009,anotherTRAFFICstudyfoundthatonlytwospeciesofmarineturtlewereregularlyfoundintrade,

theHawksbillandGreenTurtles(Stiles,2009).ComparedtotheTRAFFIC2002survey,thenumbersof

outletsanditemsinHoChiMinhCityandHaNoidecreasedconsiderably.However,tradehadincreased

inotherplaces, includingHaLong,PhuQuoc,andHaTienwheremarine turtleproductswereopenly

purchasedregardlessoftheillegality.Thereportpointedouttheweaknessandineffectivenessoflaw

enforcementactivitiesintheseareas.In2016and2017,TRAFFICobserved163marineturtleproductson

themarketinVietNaminHanoi,HoChiMinh,NhaTrang,andHaLong(TRAFFIC,unpub.).Alltheproducts

weremadefromHawksbillTurtlesandincludedtrophies,bangles,combs,hairpins,andearrings.InJune

2018,72taxidermiedmarineturtlesofvariousspecieswereseizedinVungTauwhichwereondisplayat

a shell-craftshop11.

ItisapparentthatthetradeinmarineturtlesstillpersistsinVietNambutisbecominglessopen.Demand

plays a key role indriving trade. Domestically,meat andeggs are consumedas adelicacy andas an

aphrodisiac. WealthyVietnamesebelievethatburyingstuffedmarineturtles inthebasementoftheir

house brings luck, while wearing marine turtle products treats low blood pressure12. In addition to

domestic demand and consumption, demand from Chinese nationals is emerging13. According to the

ChineseEmbassyinVietNam,thenumberofChinesetouriststravellingtoVietNam,especiallytoNha

TrangandDaNang,hasrisentremendouslyoverthe lastfiveyears.SourcesfindthatChinesetourists

oftenbuywildlifeproductsincludingcombs,hairclipsmadeoftortoiseshell14.Violatorshaveclaimedthat

they export huge amounts of processed marine turtle products to wholesalers in China for local

consumption.However,furtherinvestigationisneededtoidentifyhowthistraderouteoperatesandwho

mightbeinvolved.

10ThetradeinmarineturtleproductswerelegalinVietNampriorto22

ndApril2002,sincethenmarineturtleshavebeenaprotectedspecies

andregulatedbyawiderangeoflegaldocuments,initiallytheGovernmentDecree48/2002/ND-CP.11https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20180607/police-seize-scores-of-taxidermied-endangered-turtles-in-southern-vietnam/46005.html

12http://cand.com.vn/Kinh-te/Can-ngan-chan-viec-khai-thac-mua-ban-rua-bien-o-cang-Sa-Ky-242443/;http://vov.vn/Print.aspx?id=289462;

http://www.baobariavungtau.com.vn/xa-hoi/201509/rua-bien-con-dao-dang-bi-san-bat-trai-phep-637374/

http://giadinh.net.vn/xa-hoi/hiem-hoa-tu-nhung-chuyen-san-rua-bien-20131211040426777.htm

http://suckhoedoisong.vn/bo-than-trang-duong-bang-vi-thuoc-tu-rua-n2652.html

13https://tuoitre.vn/tang-tru-hang-ngan-xac-rua-bien-de-che-tac-my-nghe-674781.htm;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ833NyihLM;

http://infonet.vn/rua-bien-con-dao-bi-san-bat-xe-thit-lam-mon-nhau-hot-post176839.info14http://gappingworld.com/trung-quoc-thua-nhan-gay-thiet-hai-cho-rua-bien-va-cac-rang-san-ho-tai-bien-dong/

54

Overtheyears,SaKyPort(BinhChauCommune,BinhSonDistrict,QuangNgaiProvince)hasremained

anactivemarket for the illegal trade inmarine turtles. Despitearrests, commercial trade formarine

turtlespersistsinthiscoastallocation.In2009,117marineturtlesweighing2tonneswereseizedwhen

aVietnamesemanintheAnHaivillageinBinhChauwastransportingthemfromhisvesseltohiscarfor

trade. Hedeclaredthathecaughttheturtles intheseaandwouldselltheturtles inBinhDinh,some

130kmawayfromBinhChau. However, further investigationrevealedthat thesemarineturtleswere

intendedtobesoldtowholesalersinNhaTrangandHoChiMinhCityforChinesetourists.InOctober

2013,94deadfrozenmarineturtleswereseizedfromavehicle. Thedriverdisclosedthatthesedead

turtleswerecollectedfromfishingvesselsinSaKyPortfordomestictrade.

ViolatorsthatwerearresteddeclaredthatfishermenoftenhuntmarineturtlesinVietNam’soceansorin

the oceans of other surrounding countries. In the past, fishermen used traditional boats and simple

fishing gear which could capture a single turtle per outing. Today, they fish in groups and equip

themselveswithlargeboatswithoutboardmotorshelpingthemtoaccessalargerrangetohuntagreater

numberofturtles.Somelocalpeoplesaidthatmiddlemenarewillingtosponsormodernequipmentand

boatsforfishermentousewhilehunting.Aliveordead,marineturtlesareprocessed(mainlystuffed)in

VietNambeforeexport. InNovember2015, customsdepartment inHaiAnPort,Hai Phongprovince

seizeda40ftcontainerofdriedturtlesandtortoiseshells.Theseproductswereillegallytransportedfrom

PortKlang(Malaysia)toVietNam.SomeVietnamesefishermenfromQuangNgaiandBinhDinhwere

sentencedtoprisoninthePhilippines15andMalaysiaforillegallycatchingmarineturtlesinthewatersof

thesecountries.Accordingtotheirtestimonies,mostofthemarineturtleswouldbesoldtobuyersfrom

Hainan,China(ChuandNguyen,2015).

6.2 Legal International Trade Transactions

An analysis of trade records from the CITES Trade Database was conducted to provide insights into

reportedtradetransactions.Therawdatawerecheckedforwhatmayhavebeenduplicatereporting,for

examplewherethereportedinformationappearedintwoormoreincidentswithidenticalinformation

onquantities,countries,sourceandpurposecodes.

BasedonCITESTradeData,therewereatleast6,200recordsinvolvingthegloballegaltradeofmarine

turtles,partsandderivativesbetween2000and2017. Of these,only116 records (or2%of the total

records)involvedIndonesia,MalaysiaandVietNam,withnoneoccurringin2016and2017.Atleast18

recordswereofinternationalimportsintoIndonesia(n=4),Malaysia(n=13)andVietNam(n=1)(Table20).Thisinvolvedmostlycarvings,reportedlyimportedmostlyforcommercialpurposes,aswellaslive

turtlesandspecimenswhichwerereportedlyforscientificpurposes.

15https://vnexpress.net/tin-tuc/the-gioi/nguoi-viet-5-chau/philippines-bat-13-nguoi-viet-san-trom-rua-bien-2898560.html

55

Table20:Reportedimportsofmarineturtles,partsandderivativestoIndonesia,MalaysiaandVietNambetween2000and2015basedonCITESTradeData

To From No.ofRecords Commodity ExporterReportedQuantity

ImporterReportedQuantity

Unit

Indonesia United

Kingdom

1 carvings 1

Netherlands 2 carvings 2

Singapore 1 shells 2

Malaysia United

Kingdom

9 carvings 11 3

Philippines 1 specimens 43 flasks

VietNam 1 specimens 60 flasks

Thailand 1 live 60

UnitedStates 1 carvings 1

VietNam France 1 carvings 2

Note:For13recordsthesourcecodewasreportedas‘O-pre-conventionspecimens’,followedbywild-caught(n=3),and‘U-unknown’and‘C-captive-bred’withonerecordeach.Inrelationtopurpose,10recordswerereportedascommercial(mostlyinvolvingGBwithoneinvolvingtheUS),3recordswerereportedas‘S-scientific’(involvingPH,VN,TH),3recordsreportedas‘Q-circus/travellingexhibition’(NLandFR)and2recordsreportedas‘P-personal’(involvingGBandSG).

A further 98 records, involved the export of marine turtle products from these three countries i.e.

Indonesia(n=23),Malaysia(n=22)andVietNam(n=53)(Table21).Theseexportswentto11countries(Australia,CzechRepublic,France,UnitedKingdom,Japan,Malaysia(whoimportedfromVietNam),the

Netherlands,NewZealand,Portugal,Singapore,andtheUnitedStates(US).TheUS(n=65)wasthemain

exportdestinationforallthreecountriesandgenerally involvedthegreatestdiversityofmarineturtle

productsexported.Quantity-wise,thelargesttransactioninvolved2,444liveHawksbillandGreenTurtles

importedbyUnitedKingdomintwoseparateshipmentsin2004.Malaysiareportedtheseasofwildorigin

forscientificpurposeswhereastheywerereportedasseizedbyUnitedKingdom.Fifty-eightpercentof

the 98 trade records involved specimens where the source was reported as “seized” by importing

countries,withthehighestnumbersexportedfromVietNam(n=35), followedbyMalaysia(n=12)and

Indonesia(n=10).

Table21:Reportedexportsofmarineturtles,partsandderivativesfromIndonesia,MalaysiaandVietNambetween2000and2016basedonCITESTradeData

From ToNo.ofRecords Commodity

ImporterReportedQuantity

ExporterReportedQuantity

Unit

Indonesia Australia 1 specimens 106

Czech

Republic1 bodies 1

GreatBritain 2carapace 1

specimens 15 90

Japan 4specimens 0.117kg 50

skins 0.603kg 200

Netherlands 2carvings 1

shells 1

56

NewZealand 1 carapace 1

Singapore 1 specimens 20 flasks

UnitedStates 11

bodies 7

carvings 30

carapace 1

skins 1

specimens 10 210

shells 1

trophies 1

MalaysiaAustralia 7

specimens 123 198

eggs 314

live 198

GreatBritain 6

live 2444 2444

specimens 23 flasks

eggs 37

leather 1

NewZealand 2 derivatives 10+1.17kg

Poland 2derivatives 1

skulls 5

UnitedStates 6

carvings 1

eggs 1

derivatives 1 kg

specimens 79 flasks

skins 83

skulls 1

VietNam France 1 carvings 2 2

Japan 1 carvings 2

Malaysia 1 specimens 60 flasks

NewZealand 2carapace 1

derivatives 1

UnitedStates 48

bodies 62

carapace 5

carvings 28

shells 16

trophies 7

Note:n=57sourcecodereportedasseizedbytheimportingcountry,n=34as‘W-wild-caught’,andremainingn=5asD-AppIanimalbredforcommercialpurposes’,‘O-pre-conventionspecimens’and‘U-unknown’.Ofthese,for44recordsthepurposewaslistedas‘P-personal’(sourcesforallofthesewerereportedtobeseizedspecimens,mostlybytheUSfollowedbythreerecordsreportedbyNewZealand),4as‘T-commercial’and1as‘S-scientific’.Theremaining8records,hadnopurposelisted,butthesewereallreportedasseized.

Figure8providesabreakdownofcommoditiesexportedfromIndonesia,MalaysiaandVietNamincluding

quantitiesexportedforeachyear.Wherethepurposeoftheexportwasstated,themajoritywerefor

personaluse(67%)followedtoalesserextentbyscientificuse(19%)andcommercialuse(11%).Ofthe

traderecordsforcommercialuse,atleastfiveincidentsfrom2001-2006werereportedtobewild-sourced

(involvingwholespecimensandeggsfromIndonesiaandMalaysiathatwereimportedbytheUS,Australia

andtheCzechRepublic). Fourotherincidentsbetween2000-2010involvedimportrecordsbytheUS,

fromIndonesiaandVietNamofskinpieces,carvingsandbodies,thesourcesforwhichwerereportedas

“seized”.

57

Figure8:MarineturtlecommoditiesexportedfromIndonesia,MalaysiaandVietNambetween2000and2015basedonCITESTradeData

RecordsfromtheCITESTradeDatabaseindicatethat57ofthetradetransactionsthatcamefrom

Indonesia,MalaysiaandVietNamwerereportedtobeseizedspecimens.Allofthesewerereportedby

importingcountries–NewZealand,Poland,UnitedKingdom(UK)andtheUnitedStatesofAmerica(US).

Thesecouldhavebeenillegalinternationalshipmentsthatwereheadedtothecountriesfromthethree

SoutheastAsiancountries.ThehighestnumberoftransactionsoriginatedfromVietNam(n=35records,

headingtoNewZealandandtheUS),followedbyMalaysia(n=12records,headingtoNewZealand,

Poland,UKandtheUS)andfinallyIndonesia(n=10headingtoNewZealand,UKandtheUS).

Verificationofthisdatafromgovernmentagencies,intermsofunitsandspecimenstraded,isrequired

toconfirmifthesewereallindeedseizuresuponimport.

6.3 Illegal International Trade Theanalysisofrecentseizuresfrom2015-2018(seesection5.1)aswellasseizuresthatoccurredoutside

thatperiodprovidesevidenceofaconcerningtrendintheillegalinternationaltradeinmarineturtlesand

theirparts.Thissectiondrawsontheseexamplesto illustratethedynamicsofthetrade involvingkey

countries,particularlythoseintheAsiaregion.

6.3.1 Indonesia In2012,itwasreportedthattheinternationaltraffickingofmarineturtlesoutofIndonesiawasonthe

risenationwide largelytomeetdemandfromEastAsiancountries (IOSEA,2014). Thisappearstostill

persistwithrecentseizuredata(2015-August2018)revealingtheinternationaltradeinmarineturtles

fromIndonesiaheadingintoMalaysia,China,andVietNam.Chinawasimplicatedasadestinationcountry

inat leastsevencaseswith Indonesiaasthereportedorigin. Forexample, inJanuary2018,200kgof

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Quantity

bodies carapaces

carvings derivative(kg)

derivatives eggs

leatherproduct live

shells skins

skulls specimens(flasks)

specimens trophies

58

marineturtleshellswereinterceptedinMakassar,SulawesionroutetoChina(Anon,2018).Authorities

raidedahouseinMakkasar,Sulawesiandfoundtheitemspackedincardboardboxes.Thetwosuspects

arrestedreportedlysourcedtheproductsfromtheIndonesianprovinceofPapuawhichwasthenshipped

byboattoMakkasar.Therewereatleastfourcasesin2016,twoofwhichoccurredinIndonesia(Baliand

East Kalimantan) of seized shipments involving shells and31 livemarine turtles; and twooccurred in

Xiamen,FujianProvinceofChinaofshipmentsoriginatingfromJakartainvolvingonetaxidermiedmarine

turtleand33HawksbillTurtleshells.

In2013,WWFIndonesianotedtherisingsmugglingofmarineturtleeggsfromWestKalimantantothe

MalaysianstatesofSabahandSarawakwheretheyfetchedahigherprice,afterillegalsaleofeggsinthe

Serikinmarket,attheSarawak-WestKalimantanborder,wasreported(JakartaPost,2013).Therewere

atleastsevenseizuresofturtleeggsinKalimantanfrom2010to2015involvinganestimated31,500eggs

whichwerereportedlydestinedtoMalaysia(Mongabay,2016).Themostrecentcasewasof6,725eggs

whichwereseizedatSintetePortinWestKalimantanin2015whichwasonroutetoSarawak.

In January 2015, Vietnamese fishermen were caught in Indonesian waters off Papua with 50 dead

HawksbillTurtlesontheirboat. Unfortunately, illegalVietnamesepoaching inwaterswithintheCoral

Trianglehavebeennoted sinceat least the2000s (IOSEA,2014).Chinawouldappear tobe themain

sourceofdemandformarineturtleshells,liveandtaxidermiedproductsfromIndonesiawhileMalaysia

wouldappeartobethemainsourceofdemandforturtleeggs(IOSEA,2014).Thesesamefindingswere

alsonotedbyTRAFFICin2011basedonevidenceofseizurerecordsandmarketsurveysthatrevealeda

consistentillegaltraderoutefromtheCoralTriangleregionofSouth-eastAsia(mainlyIndonesia,Malaysia

andthePhilippines)tomainlandChina(Lametal,2012).Lametal.foundthatbetween2000and2008,over9180marineturtleproductswereseizedinEastAsiancountries(i.e.mainlandChina,HongKongSAR,

Taiwan,ProvinceofChinaandJapan)includingwholespecimens(2062turtles),craftedproducts(6161

pieces) and raw shell (789 scutes and 919 kg). Indonesiawas the countrymost frequently linked to

seizuresinthesecountrieswithatleast14incidentsnoted(Lametal.2012).

6.3.2 Malaysia MuchoftheillegalinternationaltraffickingofmarineturtlesinMalaysiahaslargelybeenattributedto

poachingbyforeignfishingfleets(mostlyChineseandVietnamese)concentratedinthewatersoffthe

westerncoastofSabahtomeetmarketdemandsinChinaandVietNam(Lametal.,2012;WWF-Malaysia

andSabahWildlifeDepartment,2018;Riskasetal.,2018).Previousseizuresandstudies(WWF-Malaysia

andSabahWildlifeDepartment,2018;IOSEA,2014)identifiedtheselocationshostthrivingturtlemarkets

offeringturtlemeatdishes,turtle-basedsouvenirs,andtraditionalmedicinemadeofturtleparts.Based

onrecentseizuredatafrom2015-May2018(seesection5.1),suchincidentsstilloccur.Therewereat

least10seizure incidents linking Indonesia,PhilippinesandVietNaminthe internationaltraffickingof

marineturtleswithMalaysia.MostofthesewereofturtleeggsfromPhilippinesintoMalaysia(atleast8

cases),wherebyshipmentswereseizedoffthecoastofSabah. Themostrecentoftheseoccurred in

2017,wheretwoshipmentsofover3000marineturtleeggswereseizedfromFilipinosinSabahwaters.

Therewasonlyoneincident,whichoccurredin2017,inwhichaFilipinovesselcarryingGreenTurtlemeat,

organsandshellswereseizedinMalaysianwatersreportedlyheadingbacktothePhilippines.VietNam

hasbeenlinkedtoMalaysiainatleastthreecases.Intwooftheseincidents,occurringinDecember2016

andAugust2017,VietnamesevesselscarryingmarineturtleswereseizedinMalaysianwatersamounting

to1400deadandliveturtles.Inthethirdincident,whichoccurredin2015,a4-ftcontainercontaining

thousandsofdeadmarinelifeincludingturtleswasseizedataportinHaiPhong,VietNamwithorigins

59

reportedasPeninsularMalaysia.Lastly,inOctober2017,anIndonesianvesselcarrying97kgofmarine

turtleshellswasseizedinSabahwaters.

According toa recent studybyWWF-Malaysia and theSabahWildlifeDepartment (2018), themodusoperandiforpoachingofmarineturtleshasseenashiftinrecentyearsthroughanincreaseininvolvement

of local community members. These local communities are paid to capture turtles which are then

collectedincentralizedlocationsforpackagingandsubsequentexporttoforeignmarkets,namelyChina,

VietNamandthePhilippines(WWF-MalaysiaandSabahWildlifeDepartment,2018).Thereasonforthis

shiftisthoughttobeduetoincreasedmaritimesecuritymakingitdifficultforforeignvesselstodirectly

operateinMalaysianwaters(WWF-MalaysiaandSabahWildlifeDepartment,2018).Poachingisfound

tocoincidewithpeakturtlenestingseasoninSabahwhichrunsfromMaytoAugustannually.Market

pricesofliveturtlescurrentlystandatRM300/kgforfreshmeat,RM100/kgfordriedmeat,RM2,000

forliveadultturtles,andRM1,300forlivejuveniles.Turtlesaretransferredfromthepoachinglocation

tothecollectioncentreaswholespecimensorasparts(e.g.scales,calipee,andplastron)(WWF-Malaysia

andSabahWildlifeDepartment,2018).

AccordingtoaninterviewconductedwiththeheadoflocalcouncilenforcementunitinSandakan,amayor

of a Philippine Island stated during a meeting that turtle eggs make up one of their major exports.

InterviewswithvarioussourcessuggestcertainbordertownsinMalaysiasuchasSerikininSarawak,and

potentiallySempornainSabah,arebeingusedastransithubsforinternationaltradeofturtlepartsand

derivativesfortheSoutheastAsianregion(WWF-MalaysiaandSabahWildlifeDepartment,2018;IOSEA,

2014).AsreportedinWWF-MalaysiaandSabahWildlifeDepartment(2018),itissuspectedthatturtle

products are being collected in these towns before being packed and shipped to overseas markets,

particularlytomeetthedemandincertainpartsofChina.Areviewofpressclippingsofpreviousseizures

made inSabah’s jurisdictionshowsthatmanyof theturtleproductsseizedeitheroriginated fromthe

Philippines or Indonesia and are destined for export towards Viet Nam or China, these are mainly

consignmentswhicharetransferredbyboat.

6.3.3 Viet Nam PriortotheimplementationofDecree48/2002/ND-CPin2002,theinternationaltradeinmarineturtles

wasnotstrictlyprohibitedbyVietNamlaw,despiteVietNamhavingbecomeaPartytoCITESin1994.

Between1973and1985,VietNamwasknowntosupplymarine turtleproducts toHongKong,South

Korea,SingaporeandTaiwanProvinceofChina(TRAFFIC,2009).Initially,inthe1980s,theseweresourced

domesticallybutbythe1990s,HawksbillTurtleswerebeingsourcedfromCambodia.Bytheearly2000s,

whole Hawksbills originating inMalaysia and Indonesia were bought by Vietnamese fishermen from

foreign fishing vessels out at seawhile shellswere imported from Indonesia and Singapore (TRAFFIC

2004).ResearchbyTRAFFICin2002alsorevealedanactiveinternationaltradeinmarineturtleproducts,

mainlybekko,withmuchoftradebeingexportedfromVietNam.Thisresearchdisclosedaconsiderable

amountoflarge-scalewholesalemarineturtletradingtoforeigndealers.MostVietnamesedealersstated

thatmuchoftheirtradewasinternational(TRAFFIC,2004),comparedtowhatwaspreviouslythoughtto

bedominatedbydomestictrade(CRES,1994).Annuallyuntiltheearly2000s,hundredsofstuffedmarine

turtles in Ha Tien and Nha Trangwere exported to China, Indonesia, the Philippines and Hong Kong

(TRAFFIC,2004).

In2014,Vietnameseauthoritiesseizedsome7,000deadmarineturtlesinNhaTrangfromawarehouse

andafarm. InJune2018,afternearlyfouryearsof investigation,theoffenderwassentencedtofour

60

yearsandsixmonths’imprisonmentbyNhaTrang’sPeopleCourt16.AccordingtoENV,theturtleswere

allegedlydestinedforChina,tobesoldastrophies.Basedonrecentseizuredatasince2015(seesection

5.1),atleast10incidentsshowthatVietNamfunctionsmainlyasadestinationcountryortransitcountry

intheillegaltraffickingofmarineturtlestoChina.AccordingtoWildAid(2018),between2013and2017,

there have been at least seven reported cases indicating cross-border trafficking of marine turtles

betweenChinaandVietNamatFangchenggang, aharborcityinthesouthwestofChina.Atotalof199taxidermiesand153livemarineturtles,mostofwhichwereidentifiedasHawksbillTurtleswereestimated

seizedinthesevencases.AsidefromChina,therewasatleastoneseizurein2017revealingthetrafficking

ofturtleshellsreportedlyfromHaitionroutetoVietNamwhichwasinterceptedatCharlesDeGaulle

Airport. Authorities seized almost half a ton of Hawksbill Turtle shells estimated to amount to 380

turtles17.AsrecentlyasMay2018,therewasabatchofHawksbillTurtleshellsthatwereseizedbyInterpol

reportedly on route to VietNam fromMiami18. No details howeverwere provided on exact seizure

location or quantities seized. Asmentioned above,Malaysia and Indonesia are also linked as source

countriesinthetraffickingofmarineturtleproductstoVietNam.

6.4 Conservation Impact and Management of Marine Turtles Conservation impacts of trade on marine turtle populations is challenging to quantify due to the

complexitiesofturtleecologyandthemultiplefactorsinfluencingturtlesurvivalrangingfromnaturalto

anthropogenicsources.However,thepresentstudyprovidesevidencethatpoachingandillegaltradedo

havesignificantadverseimpactsonturtlepopulationsintheregion,whichareatthesametimeaffected

bybycatch,habitatdestruction,pollutionandotherthreats.

6.4.1 Indonesia The Indonesianarchipelago,withover17,000 islandsandanestimatedcoastline lengthof54,716km

(amongthelongestintheworld),presentssignificantchallengestothosewhoaretaskedwithmonitoring

theturtletradeand/orenforcingthelaw.Thesheersizeofthearchipelago,over34provincesandeach

with their own mandates, differing capacities and jurisdictional issues increases problems of

communicationbetweenthevariousagenciesconcerned.ProvincialregulationsinIndonesiasometimes

arenotharmonisedwithnationalregulationsorlocalpractices.Forexample,insomeareas,traditionalor

customary rights are perceived to be stronger than national legislation, adding to the complexity of

enforcingnationallawsthatapplytomarineturtles.ThisisthecaseparticularlyaroundPadang,Sumatra,

whereeggsaresoldopenlyinlargequantities,orinBaliwhereturtlepartsandproductshavebeenpart

of the local culture. Further, a combination of literature review and feedback from stakeholder

engagement highlight that increasing human population and tourism, particularly along previously

isolatedstretchesofcoastline,combinedwithgreaterpublicmobility,areleadingtogreaterpressureson

formerlyundisturbednestingbeaches.

Ofgreaterconcernistherisingnumberof‘turtleattractions’,particularlyinBali,thathatchandkeeplive

turtles forpurelycommercialpurposes,butwith littleornoconservationvalue. Althoughall facilities

displayanofficiallicensefromtheIndonesianNatureConservationAgency(BKSDA)thatallowsthemto

operate legally, standardhatcheryprotocolsare largely ignored,as longas someof the turtleshatch.

Moneyismadefromcooperationwithlocalboatsthatbringthetouriststotheattractions,entrancefees,

donations,andvaryingamountstopayifavisitorwantstoreleaseacaptiveturtle(hatchlingsaremuch

16https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/06/wildlife-watch-hawksbill-sea-turtle-trafficker-sentenced-vietnam/

17https://www.rt.com/news/396753-smuggled-tortoiseshell-intercepted-france/

18https://www.interpol.int/layout/set/gallery/Media/Images/News/2018/2018-058/01-CANADA-vigilanti-retouches

61

cheapertoreleasethanadults).AlloftheattractionsvisiteddisplaythepermitsissuedbythelocalBKSDA,

ontheunderstandingthat theyprovidenecessary incomeforotherwisepoorcoastalcommunities. A

furtherproblemoccursafterliveturtlesoreggsareseizedbytheauthorities.Aswithmanyotherwildlife

species thatare seizedbyauthorities,well-run rescuecentresare in short supply (e.g.TheCikananga

Wildlife Rescue Centre in Java), and the issuance of licenses by local authorities to village groups

unfortunatelyprovideslittlemorethananopportunityforthemtomakemoneyoutofthedisplayand

paidreleases(andperhapsalsosecretsales)ofturtles,ratherthanhavinganyactualconservationvalue.

Additionally,itisfrequentlyveryimpracticalintermsofcostsandlogisticstoreleaseseizedanimals(which

mightalsobesick)backintothewild-particularlyintheiractualnativehabitat–inaccordancewithIUCN

Releaseprotocols(Eckertetal.,1999).Indeed,inthecaseofmarineturtlesreleasesofyoungturtlesthat

havebeenkeptincaptivityforlongperiodsmightarguablylessentheirchancesofsurvival,ratherthan

themhavingthebenefitsof‘headstarting,andbeingreleasedweeksormonthsafterhatching’(although

thisisgivenasjustification,bylocalpartiesconductingsuchreleases,forkeepingturtlesincaptivityfor

longerperiods).Releaseofsickturtlescouldalsoleadtothepossibilityofdiseasetransmissionintowild

turtlepopulations(Warwicketal.2013).

6.4.2 Malaysia Ingeneral,inMalaysia,conservationeffortwithregardstoturtleswerefocusedonnestingbeachesandnestingpopulationthatconsistsofonlyfemales.Beachesarepatrollednightlytofindeggsandcollect

data on nesting females. Eggs were then transferred for safe incubation in a hatchery (ex situ). The

collectionofdatamostlyfocusesonnestingpopulationwhereparameterssuchasnumberofnests,eggs,

hatchlingsreleased,hatchingrates,numberoffemaleturtlesviataggingsystemandmeasurements.To

thatend,theconservationfocushasbeenonmonitoringnestnumbersandnestingpopulation.However,

inrecentyears,studieshavebeenextendedtoidentifyingforaginggroundsandpopulationsviagenetic

analysesorsatellitetracking.

ThefirsthatcheryinPeninsularMalaysiawasbuiltatRantauAbang,Terengganuin1971.Sincethen,a

totalof20hatcheriesand6TurtleInformationandConservationCenterswereestablishedinPeninsular

Malaysia.ConservationofmarineturtlesinPeninsularMalaysiaisajointeffortwithvariousgovernment

agencies, university, non-government organisations and private sectors. The Department of Fisheries

Malaysia conducts conservation programmes, enforcements such as controlling fish net mesh sizes,

promotingtheuseofTurtleExcluderDevices(TED)andencouragingtheuseofcirclehooksinlong-line

fisheries.

TurtleconservationinSabahcanbedrawnbackasearlyas1927whenvariousnoticesrelatedtoturtle

conservationwere issuedby theNorthBorneoBritishCompanyand the stategovernment.Beginning

1977,thestategovernmentapprovedtheestablishmentofTurtleIslandsPark,whichformerlyknownas

TurtleFarmthatconsistsofthree important islands(Selingan,GulisanandBakunganKechil).Withthe

establishment of the park, turtles and their nesting beaches are fully protected and has resulted in

increasedofnesters,incubatedeggsandreleasedhatchlingintothesea.Turtleconservationatthepark

includedailybeachpatrolling,hatcheryprogrammes,researchactivitiesandeducationprogrammes.

HistoryofmarineturtlemanagementandconservationinSarawakcanbetracedbackasearlyas1600’s.

EggsfromSarawakwasusedasbartertradeitemswithtradersfromChinaasearlyasandinvolvedRoyals

incollectionofeggsin1839.In1998,themanagementandresearchonmarineturtlesofSarawakhave

beenundertakenbytheForestryDepartmentSarawak.In2003,whensomeoperationfunctionsofFDS

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weretakenoverbytheSarawakForestryCorporationSdn.Bhd.(SFC).Themanagementofmarineturtles

andallwildlifeinSarawakfallunderjurisdictionoftheProtectedAreasandBiodiversityConservationUnit

(PABC)ofSFC.TheSarawakStateGovernmenttookasteptowardprotectingthecriticalhabitatofmarine

turtlesbygazettingtheSarawakTurtleIslandsastheTalang-SatangNationalPark.Turtleconservationat

thepark include introducing reefballs toovercome turtleby-catches,dailybeachpatrolling,hatchery

programmes,researchactivitiesandeducationprogrammes.

Nationally,themarineturtlemanagementofMalaysiaisguidedbythenationalplanofaction(NPOA)for

marineturtlemanagementpublishedin2008.Thereare16prioritiesand6objectives.TheNPOAlisted

the programmes for the year 2008 to 2013. The plan hadmulti-dimension approaches and involved

variousagenciesandstakeholdersformanagementofmarineturtlesbyreductionofdirectthreattothe

seaturtles;conservationandrehabilitationprogramforseaturtlehabitat; intensifiestheconservation

research for sea turtle; public awareness programme; public involvement and promotion of the

implementationoftheplan.TomonitortheimplementationoftheobjectivesoftheNPOAaresuccessfully

achieved, all programmesaremonitoredbya special task force calledasMalaysia TechnicalWorking

Groups forSeaTurtle (MTWGST).Thisplanended in2013andmostof theprogramandactivitiesare

alreadyimplementedaslistedintheNPOA.

Regionally, the significance of marine turtle populations gave rise to Malaysia’s recognition and

involvement in international commitments such as the Indian Ocean Southeast Asia (IOSEA)

Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation and Management of Marine Turtles and their

HabitatsoftheIndianOceanandSouth-EastAsia(MoU),CoralTriangleInitiativeonCoralReefs,Fisheries

andFoodSecurity(CTI-CFF)andSulu-SulawesiMarineEcoregion(SSME)(Jolisetal.,2016).Inaddition,theTurtleIslandsHeritageProtectedArea(TIHPA),atransboundaryprotectedareaintheSuluSeawas

established in1996betweenSabahand thePhilippines to jointlymanage the large turtlepopulations

occurringthere.

Intermsofregulations,existing licensingsystemsregulatethecollectionofeggsof turtlespecies (see

section3.2.2),whileexisting laws inmostotherstatesdefinepenalties thatare too lowtoeffectively

deterpoachingactivities.SomeMalaysianstates(suchasPerlisandSelangor)stillhavenotadoptedany

legal protection for turtle populations present within their territories in the absence of a national

legislativeprovisionsonturtleconservation.Duetothelackofuniformityinlegislativeprovisionsacross

thecountry,therecurrentlyexistsalegalloopholewhichisbeingexploitedbyeggcollectorsandtraders.

Generally,theincreaseofturtlepopulationsinSabahandSarawakhasbeenattributedtothesuccessof

acompletetradebanonturtleeggsintheserespectivestates. Unfortunately,thetradebanonturtle

eggs incertainstatessuchasSabah isbeingcircumventedwithsalesof theseeggsundertakeneither

locallyortransportedtoareaswheresuchtradeis legal(e.g.Terengganu). Therefore,anextensionof

thesebansnationwideisrecommendedtoenableacohesiveenforcementmechanismtobeestablished

throughoutthecountry.Increasedmonitoringatgatewayssuchasairportsandjettiesinmajortownsin

Sabah, Sarawak, and east coast states of Terengganu, Kelantan and Pahang is also recommended to

mitigatetradeinturtleparts,particularlyasithasbeenhighlightedthatalotofturtleproducts,especially

turtleeggs,arebeingtransferredthroughthesemajorgateways.

Furthermore,while‘buy-back’schemesmayhavebeeneffectiveinthepast,itappearstheireffectiveness

havereducedduetotheinefficienciesinimplementingtheschemeaswellastheoutdatedpriceoffered

notbeingalignedwithmarketconditions.Infact,allofthekeynestingbeachesinthestateofTerengganu

(whichhasthelargestnestingpopulationofgreenturtlesinPeninsularMalaysia)arenolongerunderthe

63

‘buyback’scheme.Insteadseasonalworkersarehiredtopatrolnestingbeachesandrelocateneststo

designatedhatcheriesforincubationinanefforttoreducethepoachingofeggs.The‘buy-back’scheme

isimplementedatbeacheswherenestingnumbershavenotreduced,largelyduetothelackofresources

tomonitorover40nestingbeachesinTerengganu.ThisisalsobeingpracticedinMelakawhichhasthe

secondlargestnestingpopulationofhawksbillturtlesafterSabah.Introductionofmoreprotectednesting

beachesandforagingareas,similartotheRantauAbangbeachinTerengganuandtheTurtleParkinSabah,

shouldalsobeundertakengiventhesuccessobservedonthesemeasuresinmitigatingpoachingofturtles

andturtleeggsintheseareas. SomeoftheareasofpriorityforprotectionincludebeachesinRedang

Island, Perhentian Island, Padang Kemunting, Kem Terendak, Tanjung Serai, Tanjung Dahan, Meriam

PatahandPulauUpeh(Melaka),andislandsintheKudatandSempornadistrictsinSabah.Nestingsin

Pulau Upeh in the last few years have declined by approximately 50% due to coastal

development/reclamation.MainnestingbeachesonRedangandPerhentianislandsweregazettedfor

turtleprotectionundertheNationalLandCodein2006and2007. However,nospecificprovisionsfor

turtlesanctuarieshavebeenoutlinedinthelegislation.

In Peninsular Malaysia, long-term nesting monitoring is in place at some key nesting beaches in

Terengganu and Melaka via tagging programme by the Department of Fisheries, Universiti Malaysia

Terengganu(SEATRU)andWWF-Malaysia.Awarenessactivitiesincludingreligioussermonswithfocuson

theyoungergenerationtoendthepracticeofeggconsumptionhavebeenconductedforyearsalongside

advocacyforanationalbanoneggtradeandconsumptionbylocaluniversitiesandNGOs.In2008,the

DepartmentofFisherieslaunchedtheNationalPlanofAction(NPOA)forConservationandManagement

of Sea Turtles which is closely aligned to the IOSEA Conservation and Management Plan. This

comprehensiveplanprioritises,amongothers,nationalbanoncommercialsaleofturtleeggsandforall

statestoharmoniserespectivelegislationonturtles.However,itisnotedthattheNPOAtermendedin

2016withnoprogressonharmonisingexistinglegislationsandcompletebanofeggtrade.

6.4.3 Viet Nam InVietNam,priorto2002,studiesdemonstratedthatthetradeinmarineturtleproductsinVietNam

wasthreateninglocalpopulations(CRES1994;DucandBroad1995;TRAFFIC2004;vanDijkandShepherd

2004). Since then VietNamhasmade strong commitments to addressing the issues ofmarine turtle

conservationbybecomingasignatorytoavarietyofglobalandregionalconventionsandtreaties.For

years, research and conservation activities have been ongoing coupledwith awareness raising,more

effectivelawenforcementandanationalactionplan.Questionsremainonhowthesecommitmentsare

beingimplementedandiftheyareeffectivelyaddressingthedeclineofmarineturtlepopulationsinViet

Nam.

Marineturtleconservationfacesmanyinstitutionalchallenges.Oneoftheurgentproblemsintermsof

the management of marine turtle conservation is the lack of clearly defined and divided roles and

responsibilities for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) or the Ministry of

Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). Theseministries are leading authorities in implementing

state management plans on conservation of protected endangered species including marine turtles,

whichworkwiththevariousrelevantagenciessuchascentralandlocallawenforcers,police,customs,

etc.,inproperlyfulfillingtheirresponsibilitieswithregardtoimplementingrelevantbiodiversity-related

laws. This contributes to the lack of comprehensive and effective inter-agency cooperation on

conservationofmarineturtles.Additionally,marineturtleconservationrequiresenhancedcooperation

andinformationsharingnotonlybetweenMARDandMONRE,butshouldalsoinvolveMinistryofPublic

Security,DirectorateofCustoms,marinepolice,PeopleSupremeCourt,andotherrelevantagencies.

64

Localauthoritiesincoastalprovincesandcitiesareattheheartofmarineturtleconservation.However,

thecurrentmanagementsystemforconservationofmarineturtlesdoesnot involvetheseauthorities

sufficiently, theneeds include:enhancedcooperationandcommunicationbetweennationaland local

authorities,strictmonitoringmechanisms,andknowledgesharingamongstcoastalprovincesandcities.

Additionally, limited budget, weak capacity and low access to effective guidance on measures and

solutionstoconservemarineturtlesaresomeofthechallengesfacinglocalauthorities.

Lawenforcementisreportedtobeineffectiveandmarineturtlescontinuetobecapturedandkilledin

coastalprovinces/citieswithoutanyproperpunishments.Thecapacityforeffectiveenforcementofthe

existinglegalsystemishinderedbyasignificantshortageofpersonneltrainedtoprovideexpertevidence,

detectviolationsandprosecuteoffenders. Insufficientmanpower,complexadministrativeprocedures,

corruptionandunderminepromptdetectionofoffences.

Weak judicialsystemsand lightsentencesallowthose involved inthis illegalactivitytokeeppoaching

marineturtleswithlittleregardtotheconsequences.Thesefactorsmakeillegaltradeinmarineturtlesa

lowriskbusinesswithhighreturnswhereasthetruemastermindsandtheirnetworksremainuntouched

andoperationalwiththeabilitytostrikeagain.

7 CONCLUDING REMARKS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Resultsfromcurrentfieldresearchindicatethatalthoughdataarescarce,theillegaltradeofmarineturtle

trade in Indonesia,MalaysiaandVietNamappears topersist,witheachcountryhaving itsowntrade

dynamic.Openavailabilityinphysicalmarketssurveyedwaslimitedduringthesurveyperiod,withonline

tradeappearingmoresignificantinIndonesiaandVietNamconsideringtheshortsurveyspan.Indonesia

remainsan importantsourcecountrysupplyingdemand foreggsandmeataswellas trade inmarine

turtleshells(eitherinprocessed–jewellery,souvenirs,taxidermiedorunprocessedforms–rawpieces).

Seizures further confirm that poaching, consumption and trade is prevalent across the Indonesian

archipelago including in Kalimantan, Java, Bali, Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua. In Malaysia, the long

standingproblemoflocaldemandforturtleeggsinthestatesofSabahandTerengganuremainsactive,

andappearedtobeoccurringtoa lesserextent in thestateofSarawak. Resultsof this researchalso

suggeststhatanewtrademechanismhasdevelopedinthestateofSabah-tradersroamaroundtown

approachingpotentialbuyerscovertlythroughthe‘OK’sign,whichiscommonlyunderstoodtoreferto

availabilityofturtleeggsforsale,whichisbannedinSabah.Thiswasinresponsetostrongerenforcement

actionsparticularlyinSabah,whereconsumptionandtradeinmarineturtlesisstrictlyprohibited.InViet

Nam, local demand formarine turtlemeat exists andwhile trade inmarine turtleproductswere still

observed for sale in outlets surveyed, the open trade in bekko products seems to have reduced

significantlyincomparisontofindingsin2004.

Seizure analysis from January 2015 - June 2018 in the three countries also reveal the persistence of

internationaltraffickingofmarineturtleproductsintheAsianregion.Indonesia,MalaysiaandVietNam

playedacombinationofsource,consumerandtransitroles,withChinanotedasakeydestinationinmost

cases. Further, the trade of live turtles and turtle parts appears to be a growing concern in Sabah,

especiallytheincreasinginvolvementbylocalcommunitiestomeetforeignmarketdemands.

Thisstudyconfirmsthe illegaltradeofmarineturtlespersists in Indonesia,MalaysiaandVietnamand

identifiesthemainsourceandtradingcountriesaswellassomeofthechallengesinensuringubiquitous

65

banonmarineturtletradeanditsenforcement.Limitationsofthisstudyincludetherapidnatureofthe

research,whichpreventsamorecomprehensivequantificationoftradelevels,orcomparisonwithpast

studiesandaquantitativeassessmentoftheimpactonmarineturtlepopulations.However,considering

thatmarineturtlepopulationsaregloballyindecline,thethreatposedbycontinuedpoachingandillegal

tradeincombinationwiththemultipleotherthreatstheyface,willhavesignificantadverseimpactson

remainingturtlepopulationsinSoutheastAsia,ifallowedtopersist.Basedoninformationpresentedin

theprevioussections,thefollowingrecommendationsaremade:

7.1 Recommendations

• Streamliningpolicyandlegislativeprovisions,administrativecapacitiesandimplementationNon-harmonisedlawsandregulationspavethewayforviolatorstoexploitmanagementandprotection

measures. Urgently, a standardized legislative provision is required to close loopholes and improve

conservationofturtlepopulationsinMalaysia,particularlytoensureallStatesprohibitthedomestictrade

inturtlepartsandproducts.Thiswillpreventlaunderingofthemarineturtleeggtradeinthecountry,

betweenstatesthatprohibittradeandthosethatdonot.Furthermore,improvedenforcementofexisting

legislationtorestricttradeofturtlesandturtleproducts(forexamplebetweenstatesthatprohibittrade

and those that do not) is required in many jurisdictions across all three countries, including of the

respectiveNationalPlanofAction (NPOA)onMarineTurtles. MoreperiodicalupdatesonNPOAsare

necessary to keep track of changes and trends over time, update knowledge anddevelop preventive

measurestoimprovemanagementprovisionsandcurbillegaltrade.

Thestreamliningoflegalandregulatorypoliciesshouldalsoextendtotherolesofthevariousgovernment

agencies.Forexample,VietNam,shouldworktoidentifyandclarifytherolesforthetwokeyagencies-

MARDandMONRE-inimplementingstatemanagementplansonconservationofprotectedendangered

speciesincludingmarineturtlesandtosupportthevariousrelevantagenciesinproperlyfulfillingtheir

responsibilities. These can be resolved through national-level engagement, including in line with the

country’sNPOAprocess.

• Monitoring,investigations,lawenforcementandimprovedgatewayprotectionImprovedmonitoring,detectionandlawenforcementisrequiredinthemarketplace,andparticularlyin

maritimeareasinvolvingfishingvesselsandseaports.InMalaysia,morestrictmechanismsformonitoring

andregulatingandtakingactiononillegaltrade,particularlyturtleeggs,throughmajorairportsisrequired,

particularlythoseflyingoutofSabahandSarawakinEastMalaysiatowardsKualaLumpurandeastcoast

cities of Kota Bharu (Kelantan), Kuala Terengganu (Terengganu), and Kuantan (Pahang). Similarly, in

Indonesia,astradeappearstobeoperatingonamorecovertnaturetofeedbothlocalandinternational

demand,monitoringandinvestigationswillbekey.Continuedmonitoringandidentificationisneeded,

beyondthose identified tobehotpots fromresearchand investigationsover thepastdecades,ofkey

traderoutesused,volumes,and ‘hot-spots’ fortradeaswellaspromoting informationsharingonthe

illegal international trade, suchas smugglingmethodsand trade flows, amongcountries thathavean

activetraderelationshipregardingmarineturtles.

Longer-termmonitoringoftradetrendsanddynamicsinkeylocationsandcountries,includingthosenot

coveredunderthisstudy,shouldbeconducted.Suchstudieswouldenableamoreholisticunderstanding

ofthemarineturtletradeintheregion.Studiesshouldalsobeconsideredtobeundertakenatopportune

66

moments,includingturtlenestingseasonstodetermineifseasonalityimpactstradepatterns,asrelevant

comparisonswithpaststudiestodeterminetrendsovertime.

Persistent illegal trade, as demonstrated by seizures, reinforces the need for improvements on

enforcementinallthreecountries.Amajorityofseizuresarecurrentlymadethroughauthorizedraidson

marketsoropportunisticarrestsmadeduringmaritimepatrols. Theseshouldcontinuetodeter illegal

imports and exports of turtles and their products across the three countries (at provincial/state) and

national level), as well as in collaboration with neighbouring countries in the region. Forensics DNA

analysisof seizedspecimensshouldbeconducted todeterminespecies involvedand/populationsof

origin.Internationalcooperationisimportantasresearchhasshownthatillegaltradeoccursnotonlyto

meetdomesticdemandbutalsotocatertointernationalmarkets.

Atlocalandnationallevels,investigationsintotheplayersinvolvedinthepoachingandtradeofmarine

turtles and their parts, including the identification of collectors, illegal harvesters, middlemen,

transportationandlogisticscompaniesandtraders,iscritical.Asopenavailabilityofmarineturtleparts

andproductsreduces(duetolegislativeprohibitions)andtrademovesunderground,thisbecomesmore

imperative.Withoutinvestigationsintopartiesinvolvedalongthetradechain,leadingtothearrestand

successfulprosecutionandconvictionofviolators,thisproblemwillperpetuatetothedetrimentofwild

turtlepopulations.Todo thiseffectively, support to regulatoryagencies is important,given that their

capacities tomanage the complicated issueof international turtle tradeare limited to resources (e.g.

fundsandmanpower)thataresharedtoaddressotherissuesorpriorities.

PursuanttotheCITESNotification009thatwasissuedin201819,Partiesareurgedtoprepareandsubmit

an account of annual illegal trade reporting. The CITESNotification calls a comprehensive account of

actionsandoutcomesofseizureandprosecutionthatisreportedtotheCITESSecretariatonanannual

basis.Anaccuratelevelofreportingonlawenforcementactionsandoutcomesiscrucial,byallcountries

implicatedinthistrade,tounderstandthetradepatternsandscalethatwouldcontributetowardslaw

enforcementefforts.

• Educationandawareness-raisingGiven thevaryingdynamicof the trade that isboth legaland illegal,educationandawareness-raising

amongkeyplayers(suchaslocalcommunities,fishermen,tradersandconsumers)inanefforttoreduce

marineturtletradeandconsumptionis important,highlightingdetrimental impactstothespeciesand

theenvironment.Activitiesshouldnotonlyfocusontheecologicalimpactsfrompoachingandtradeof

marineturtles,butalsoonthepotentialhealthimpactsfromconsumptionofproducts,suchasturtleeggs.

Additionally,anawareness-raisingcampaignshouldbeundertakenfocusingonlocalcommunitiesknown

orsuspectedtobeinvolvedinturtlepoachingactivities,toinformthemoftheimpactsoftheiractivities

totheturtlepopulationsaswellastheunsustainabilityofthepracticefortheirownlivelihoods,inaddition

toimplicationsforviolatinglaws.Theseactivitiescouldalsoserveasastartingpointindevelopingmore

targeted researchand initiativesdesigned to reduceconsumptionandchangingbehaviour in the long

term.

• EnhancedregionalcooperationGiven the clear regional links involved in the trade, as demonstrated by seizures, strengthened and

coordinated regional approach to mitigating trade of turtles, their parts and derivatives, is urgently

19https://cites.org/sites/default/files/notif/E-Notif-2018-009.pdf

67

required.ImprovedcooperationbetweenIndonesia,Malaysia,andVietNam(aswellasthePhilippines,

that is also an important country involved and / implicated in the marine turtle trade) is required

particularlyasthesecountriesappeartoshareacommonturtletraderoute.Regionalcooperationisalso

importanttoidentifyandstemillegaltradeflowsfromwithinSoutheastAsiatoEastAsiandestination

countries and territories (mainland China, Taiwan Province of China,Hong Kong SAR and Japan). The

IOSEAMarineTurtlesMOUprovidesamechanismforcooperationonaregionallevel.Atitslatestmeeting

ofSignatoriesin2014,the35SignatoryStatesincludingbothsourceandconsumercountriesidentified

above, such as Indonesia, Malaysia ,Vietnam, Philipines, the US, France and others, the Signatories

establishedanillegaltradeworkinggroup,whichistaskedwithraisingtheawarenessandstrengthening

politicaldialogueonthisissue.Additionally,regionalcooperationoncounteringillegaltradeshouldbe

enhanced under other existing cooperationmechanisms, such as the Association of Southeast Asian

Nations(ASEAN)umbrellaortheCoralTriangleInitiative.Closecollaborationandexchangeofactionable

intelligenceregardingillegalharvestandtradeofmarineturtlesandtheirproductsshouldbepromoted

betweenandwithinSoutheastandEastAsia.

Capacity building and joint information sharing platforms should be encouraged and implemented

between SoutheastAsian and EastAsian countries, to update current knowledge and information on

marine turtle trade patterns. This should also include training pertaining to the implementation and

enforcementofnationallegislationsandinternationalcommitments.

• SourcesitemanagementandprotectionCoastal provinces/citieswheremarine turtles are nesting and foraging are advised to implement the

following practices and cross-cutting solutions including: establishing comprehensive management

policiesandregulationstoprotectcoastalareasand/or islandsfornestingandforagingmarineturtles

intoannuallyprovincial/cityeconomicandtourismdevelopmentalstrategy;establishno-entryand/orno-

catch zones in some special areas restricting human presence and activities to protect nesting and

foragingfemales;developprovincialmonitoringmechanismincollaborationwithmarinepoliceandother

related organizations to combat illegal hunting, and collection of eggs and nesting females; develop

programs/projects providing sustainably alternative livelihoods to diversify income sources for local

communities;developsandprotectionprogramstoreduceimpactsofover-exploitationtotheusefulness

ofsandformarineturtle’slayingeggs.

• AssessmentandmanagementofturtleattractionsitesThroughouttheregion,captivefacilitiesthatmanageturtlehatcheriesandthoseusedastourist

attractionsshouldbebetterassessedandmonitored.Insomecases,thesefacilitieshavelittle

conservationvalue.Robustinterrogationofthesefacilities,andanassessmentoftheirregulationand

practicesisneededtoensurethatthesefacilitiesdonotundermineconservationefforts,orfacilitate

thelaunderingofwildcaughtturtlesortheirpartsintotrade.

68

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ANNEX I: NESTING AND FORAGING GROUNDS IN MALAYSIA

Out of seven extantmarine turtle species, four can be found inMalaysia. They are the green turtle

(Cheloniamydas),hawksbillturtle(Eretmochelysimbricata),oliveRidleyturtle(Lepidochelysolivacea)andleatherbackturtle(Dermochelyscoriacea)(Chan,2006).

NestingdistributionThe leatherback nests primarily on the mainland beaches of the Terengganu state. For the green,

importantnestingbeachesoccurintheSabah‘sTurtleIslandsParkandSarawak’sTalang-SatangNational

Park.OthernestingbeachesareinTerengganu,Pahang,PerakstatesandSipadanIslandParkinthestate

ofSabah.TherearetwoimportantnestingbeachesfortheHawksbillTurtle,whichareintheTurtleIslands

ParkinthestateofSabah,andinthestateofMelaka.OtherpopulationscanbefoundinTerengganu,

Johorandelsewhere.ThenestingstatusoftheoliveRidleyturtleisfragmentary,withnestingsreported

intheSarawakTurtleIslandsPark,Penang,TerengganuandKelantan(Chan,2006).

Figure9:KeynestingsitesofmarineturtlesinMalaysia

Source:WWF-Malaysia

NestingabundanceandtrendsExceptforthegreenturtlepopulationintheSabah’sTurtleIslandsPark,mostnestingtrendsareindecline

(Chan,2006).Generally,theleatherbackturtlepopulationisnowconsideredaslocallyextinct,theolive

Ridleyisonthevergeofextinction,whilethegreenandhawksbillturtlesarestrugglingtosurvive(Chan,

2006;Joseph,2017).

InTerengganu,thedeclinesareshownintheleatherbacks,hawksbillsandoliveRidleys.Availablerecords

haveshownthattheleatherbackturtlepopulationhasdroppedfrom10,000annualnestingsintheearly

1950’stolessthanadozeninpresentyears(ChanandLiew,1996,Chan,2006).Thelastrecordednests

ofleatherbackturtlesinTerengganuwasin2010andnonestinghasbeenrecordedsince(AbdulKarim,

2016;SyedKadir,2016).AccordingtoChan(2006),thegreenturtlepopulationsinTerengganuhavenot

beenmonitoredsufficientlytoprovideaclearpictureofthenestingtrends,anecdotalevidencesuggests

declinesofover80%,nonethelessanecdotalevidencealsoindicatestherehasbeenanincreaseofnest

numbersinrecentyears.Currentnestingdensityaverages2,000peryear.

73

In SarawakTalang-SatangNational Park, nesting trends in the green turtles appear tobe stable,with

currently2,000or3,000nestingsoccurringperyear(Chan,2006).However,intheearly50’s,nestingsof

over20,000peryearwererecorded,indicatingadeclineofover90%(Tisen&Bali,2000;Balietal.,2016).

ThegreenturtlepopulationoftheSabah’sTurtleIslandsParkshowsignsofpopulationrecoverywiththe

currentdensitiesofover8,000nestingsperyear(Chan,2006;Isnainetal.,2016;Joseph,2017).However,thehawksbillturtlepopulationinSabahTurtleIslandsshowsgradualdecreasingtrend(Isnainetal.,2016;

Joseph,2017).Currently,nestingdensityrangesfrom400to500peryear(Chan,2006).

Generally,thenestingseasonofleatherbackturtlesisfromMarchtoSeptemberwithMaytoJulybeing

thepeakperiod.ThepeakmonthforhawksbillturtleoccursfromMaytoJuly,whilethepeakmonthsfor

oliveRidleyturtlesingeneralisbetweenFebruarytoMay(DepartmentofFisheriesMalaysia,2008).In

SabahTurtle Islands,nestingsoccur throughout theyearand thepeakmonthsareMay toAugust for

greenturtleswhilehawksbillnestingsoccurthroughouttheyearwithpeakmonthsfromFebruarytoApril

(Joseph,2017).

ForaginggroundsThegreenturtles inMalaysiaundergolong-distancemigrationsfromtheirnestingbeachestoforaging

groundsandviceversa.Luschietal.(1996)andDeMerweetal.(2009)revealedlong-distancemigrations

ofnestinggreenturtlesinMalaysia.Inaddition,geneticstudiesbyDethmersetal.(2006),Jensenetal.(2016)andJoseph&Nishizawa(2016)haveshownthatthematuredgreenturtlesinMalaysiareturnto

their natal nesting beaches from their foraging grounds to reproduce. In Malaysia, a few important

foraginggroundshavebeenidentified,suchasBruneiBayandSipadanIslandPark,bothinthestateof

Sabah.Throughgeneticmixed-stockanalyses, Josephetal. (2016) foundthatgreenturtlesoriginatingfromSabahTurtleIslandsandotherareasintheSuluSeamigratetoBruneiBay.

CleargeneticdifferenceshavebeenobservedbetweenhawksbillturtlesinSabah’sTurtleIslandParkand

inotherrookeriesinMalaysia(Nishizawaetal.,2016)indicatinganatalphilopatryofhawksbillturtlesintheregion.Mixed-stockanalysisofhawksbillsamplescollectedfromforaginggroundsinMalaysiashows

thepresenceofmultiplehaplotypes,suggestingthathawksbillturtlesfromvariousrookeriescontribute

to foraging grounds in Malaysia (Nishizawa et al., 2016). Interestingly, some of the hawksbill turtle

haplotypes detected in the foraging grounds in Tun SakaranMarine Park and Sipadan Island off the

districtsofSempornahavebeenobservedintherelativelyproximaterookeriesofSuluSea(Nishizawaetal.,2016).

Similartogreenturtles,hawksbillturtlesalsoundergolong-distancemigrations.Hawksbillturtlesnested

inMalaccamigratedtothesouthoftheStraitofMalaccaandthewaterssurroundingtheRiauArchipelago

(Indonesia)andtheneighboringislands.Thissuggeststhatthearchipelagoandtheneighboringislands

areimportantforaginggroundsforthespecies(Lauetal.,2009).

74

ANNEX II: SEIZURE DATA AND SUMMARY FOR SABAH BETWEEN 1999 AND 2017

MarineturtleseizureswereonlyavailableforSabahwhereincidentshavebeenrecordedbytheSabah

WildlifeDepartment since2004 (for live turtlesand turtleparts) and since1999 (for turtleeggs) (see

Figure1),upto2017.Intheperiodbetween1999and2017,atotalof129caseswererecordedinvolvingseizuresofturtleeggswhile23caseswererecordedfrom2004to2017involvingseizuresofwholeor

partsofturtles.

Forseizuresinvolvingturtleeggs,thehighestnumberofseizuresweremadeintheSandakanareawhich

recorded37outofthe129totalcasesreportedfrom1999to2017,withthehighestnumberofcases

typicallyoccurringbetweenJulyandSeptembereachyear,coincidingwithpeakturtlenestingseason.

Thehighestnumberofcasesoccurredin2008with19caseswhile2016recordedthehighestnumberof

eggsseizedwith43,826eggs.Theseizedeggsweremainlyfromgreenandhawksbillturtlesandatthe

timeofseizuresweremainlybeingtransported intoMalaysiatobesoldfor localconsumption. Cases

involved a combination of local communities, foreign nationals (e.g. Filipino) or illegal immigrants to

Malaysia.

Figure1:TotalNumberofSeizuresRelatingtoTurtleEggsinSabah(1999–2017)

Source:WWF-Malaysia/SabahWildlifeDepartment,2018Forturtlesandturtlemeat,seizurerecordsindicatethehighestnumberofcasesoccurinSempornaarea

with12casesoutofatotalof23casesrecorded.From2004to2017,atotalof23caseswererecorded

aroundSabahinvolving835greenandhawksbillturtleswith53kgoffleshand227kgofcarapaceseized

(Figure2).AllofthesecasesinvolvedforeignfishermenfromeitherVietnamorChina,withtheircargo

destinedforexporttointernationalmarkets,likelytobeeitherVietnamorChina.

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

45,000

50,000

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Year

No.ofEggs

No.ofCases

Unknown

Kudat

Sandakan

WestCoast

NoofEggs

75

Figure2:TotalNumberofSeizuresRelatingtoTurtlePoachinginSabah(1999–2017)

Source:WWF-Malaysia/SabahWildlifeDepartment,2018

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

20042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017

No.ofTurtles

No.ofCases

Year

Semporna

Sandakan

Kudat

WestCoast

No.ofTurtles

76

ANNEX III: LIST OF STAKEHOLDERS CONSULTED IN INDONESIA, MALAYSIA AND VIET NAM IN 2018

Country Stakeholders OrganisationsIndonesia Government • BKSDABali

• BKSDAWestJava

• BKSDAEastJava

• BKSDAMakassar

NGO • PakMadeKanta,SarahMelaniaandDodi(BaliTurtle

ConservationandEducationCentre,SeranganIsland)

• IWayanWiradnyanaandPakAgung(BaliSeaTurtleSociety)

• HarfiandriDamanhuri(KepalaPusatInformasiPenyudi

UniversitasBungHatta,Padang,N.Sumatra)

• PROFAUNA-Regionaloffices(Java,Kalimantan,Sulawesi)

• TurtleProjectDesaPemuteran,KecamatanGerokgak,

BulelengBali.(since1992)

Researches/

individuals

• DrMirzaDKusrini(DeptofForestResourcesConservation&

EcotourismFacultyofForestry,BogorAgriculturalUniversity,

WestJava)

• DewiDamayanti,Bali

• KhalisDwi(MarineScienceDeptPadjadjaranUniversity,

Bandung,WestJava)

• RetnoKusumaNingrum,Bali

• MonikaRuwaimana(PhDstudent)

• DanielaB.Cavallini

• MaggieMuurmans,PulauBanyak,N.Sumatra

• NurMasyithaNurdin(ConservationandBiodiversityAnalysts

ofBPSPLSatkerMakassar)

• AndiMuhammadIshakYusma(HeadofProgramand

EvaluationSectionofBPSPLSatkerMakassar)

• Mr.MuhammadAmin,HeadSectionof1stRegionof

GAKKUM(BalaiPenegakanHukum)KLHKMakassar

• Alghazali(localKendari)

• Rusli(localKendari,formerturtlehunter/fisherman)

Malaysia Government • DepartmentofFisheriesMalaysia

• SandakanMunicipalCouncil(In-personinterviewwas

conductedwiththeCouncil’sHeadofEnforcementUnit)

NGO • WWFMalaysia–MelakaandSabah

• KudatTurtleConservationSociety

Researchers

• UniversityMalaysiaTerengganu(4researchersworkingon

marineturtleconservationwereinterviewed).

Localcommunity • Vendors(n=6)-Informalinterviewsconductedwithwilling

vendorsbasedatwetanddrymarketsandsouvenirshopsat

varioussurveyedlocations.

• Diveinstructors(n=3)-Informalinterviewsconductedwith

willingdiveoperators/instructorsbasedatthevarious

surveyedlocationsonobservationsonmarineturtletrade.

• Localbusinessowners(n=3)-Informalinterviewsconducted

withwillinglocalbusinessowners(e.g.café,restaurants,etc.)

77

basedatornearwetanddrymarketsatvarioussurveyed

locations.

VietNam NGO

• TheAsianTurtleProgram(ATP)isaregionaltortoiseandfreshwaterturtleresearchandconservationprogrambased

inHanoi,Vietnam.

• WWF-Vietnam

• IUCN-Vietnam(interviews(throughmail)andsharingof

referencedmaterials)

• EducationforNature–VietNam(ENV)

Government • RuralDevelopment(MARD)(groupdiscussionwithexperts

comingfromseveraldepartmentsundertheministryand

interviews)

• DirectorateofFishery(interviews(throughphone)and

sharingreferencedmaterials)

• ConDao’sNationalPark(sharingreferencedmaterials)

• NuiChua’sNationalPark(sharingreferencedmaterials)

• InstituteofResourcesandMarineEnvironment/Instituteof

ScienceandTechnology(sharingresearchfindings)Freelanceexperts • Interviewsandgroupdiscussionwithindividualswhohave

workedinmarineturtleconservationprojectsand/orhave

in-depthexperiencesandknowledgeofthesector

78

ANNEX IV: SEIZURE DATA FOR INDONESIA, MALAYSIA AND VIET NAM BETWEEN JANUARY 2015 AND AUGUST 2018

Date Year Countryof

Seizure

Commodity

seized

Quantity Unit Species Source

31-Jul 2018 Indonesia eggs 199 unknown http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/07/31/sea-turtle-conservation-

workers-arrested-for-selling-eggs-in-border-area-1533029154.html

29-May 2018 Indonesia shells 44.46 kg unknown http://tabloidjubi.com/m/artikel-16583-empat--ton-cangkang-kerang-lola-dan-

karapas-penyu-disita-polisi-papua-barat.html

18-Apr 2018 Indonesia eggs 28 unknown http://www.beritamandiri.co/2018/04/21/telur-penyu-rebus-disita-di-bandara-

terunojoyo/

6-Jun 2018 Indonesia live 27 GreenTurtle https://radar.jawapos.com/baliexpress/read/2018/06/05/79218/polres-

jembrana-amankan-puluhan-penyu-hijau-di-rumah-warga

26-Jan 2018 Indonesia eggs 59 GreenTurtle https://news.okezone.com/read/2018/01/26/340/1850514/2-nelayan-

ditangkap-karena-kedapatan-mencuri-59-butir-telur-penyu

21-Apr 2018 Indonesia dead 1 unknown https://bantenhits.com/2018/04/23/razia-di-perairan-ujung-kulon-polairud-

polres-pandeglang-amankan-empat-nelayan-penangkap-penyu/

12-Mar 2018 Indonesia live 1 GreenTurtle http://sampit.prokal.co/read/news/15769-astaga-penyu-umur-60-tahun-nyaris-

dijual.html

7-May 2018 Indonesia eggs 197 unknown https://www.merdeka.com/peristiwa/polisi-tangkap-penjual-telur-penyu-di-

samarinda-197-butir-telur-disita.html

18-Apr 2018 Indonesia eggs 45 unknown http://www.balipost.com/news/2018/04/25/43965/Polisi-Amankan-Puluhan-

Telur-Penyu.html

25-Feb 2018 Indonesia live 1 GreenTurtle https://www.liputan6.com/regional/read/3488537/nelayan-morowali-nekat-

hendak-jual-penyu-hijau-berbobot-80-kg

11-Apr 2018 Indonesia live 2 GreenTurtle http://www.balipost.com/news/2018/04/11/42644/Dua-Ekor-Penyu-Sitaan-

Dilepas...html

6-Apr 2018 Indonesia live 45 HawksbillTurtle,

GreenTurtle,

LeatherbackTurtle

http://www.bbc.com/indonesia/majalah/2016/04/160408_majalah_lingkungan_

penyu_bali

27-Mar 2018 Indonesia eggs 1209 unknown http://kaltim.tribunnews.com/2018/03/27/ribuan-telur-penyu-diamankan-dari-

kapal-nelayan

11-Feb 2018 Indonesia eggs 61 unknown https://batampos.co.id/2018/02/12/penyeludupan-telur-penyu-digagalkan/

31-Jan 2018 Indonesia shell 200 kg unknown http://www.mongabay.co.id/2018/02/12/200-kg-sisik-penyu-diamankan-

makassar-sebagai-transit-perdagangan-liar-satwa-dilindungi/

25-Aug 2018 Malaysia eggs 1800 unknown http://www.theborneopost.com/2018/08/27/1800-turtle-eggs-gas-cylinders-

seized/

79

15-Jul 2018 Malaysia eggs 2850 unknown https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/07/15/marine-police-seize-

rm5k-worth-of-turtle-eggs-being-smuggled-into-sandakan-sabah/

19-Apr 2018 Malaysia eggs 1000 unknown http://m.thesundaily.my/news/2018/04/19/marine-police-seize-1000-turtle-

eggs-sarawak

14-Jan 2018 Malaysia shell 4 GreenTurtle https://www.nst.com.my/news/crime-courts/2018/01/324945/turtle-poachers-

caught-strips-shell-waters-semporna

17-Aug 2018 VietNam live 1 unknown https://web.archive.org/web/20180820022425/https://thanhnien.vn/thoi-

su/tha-rua-bien-nang-60kg-ve-moi-truong-tu-nhien-994448.html

1-Jul 2018 VietNam live 1 unknown https://web.archive.org/web/20180813045606/http://m.vietbao.vn/Xa-hoi/Tha-

rua-bien-nang-12kg-quy-hiem-ve-tu-nhien/610224398/157/

27-Jun 2018 VietNam taxidermied 47 HawksbillTurtle https://touch.facebook.com/EducationforNatureVietnam/

7-Jun 2018 VietNam taxidermied 72 variousspecies https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20180607/police-seize-scores-of-

taxidermied-endangered-turtles-in-southern-vietnam/46005.html

6-Jun 2018 VietNam live 1 HawksbillTurtle https://web.archive.org/web/20180620041732/http://kinhtevn.com.vn/vuon-

quoc-gia-bai-tu-long-tha-mot-ca-the-rua-quy-hiem-ve-bien-33093.html

30-Apr 2018 VietNam dead 12 unknown http://baocamau.com.vn/tin-tuc/ban-giao-vu-van-chuyen-rua-bien-cho-cong-an-

huyen-ngoc-hien-49831.html

25-Nov 2016 VietNam live 1 HawksbillTurtle http://207.204.5.11/wp-content/uploads/ON_THE_TRAIL_15.pdf

15-Nov 2016 VietNam live 1 unknown http://207.204.5.11/wp-content/uploads/ON_THE_TRAIL_15.pdf

13-Sep 2016 VietNam live 1 HawksbillTurtle http://207.204.5.11/wp-content/uploads/ON_THE_TRAIL_14.pdf

16-Aug 2016 VietNam eggs 1480 unknown http://plo.vn/phap-luat/de-nghi-khoi-to-vu-an-trom-1480-trung-rua-bien-

648957.html

3-Mar 2018 VietNam live 2 HawksbillTurtle https://nongnghiep.vn/kien-giang-tha-2-con-rua-bien-ve-tu-nhien-

post214000.html

28-Feb 2018 VietNam live 1 GreenTurtle http://www.robindesbois.org/wp-content/uploads/ON_THE_TRAIL_20.pdf

1-Jan 2018 VietNam live 1 unknown http://www.doisongphapluat.com/tin-tuc/mua-ban-rua-bien-quy-hiem-mot-phu-

nu-bi-phat-10-trieu-dong-a222877.html

23-May 2018 VietNam live 3 GreenTurtle https://baomoi.com/giai-cuu-3-ca-the-rua-bien-tha-ve-moi-truong-tu-

nhien/c/26177810.epi

16-May 2018 VietNam live 1 GreenTurtle http://tamkyrt.vn/news/kinh-te-xa-hoi/ngu-dan-tam-thanh-tha-ca-the-vich-

nang-gan-05-kg-ve-bien-633.html

16-May 2018 VietNam live 1 GreenTurtle http://plo.vn/thoi-su/ben-tre-giai-cuu-va-tha-con-vich-75-kg-ve-bien-

770881.html

13-Jul 2017 France shell 496 kg HawksbillTurtle https://www.rt.com/news/396753-smuggled-tortoiseshell-intercepted-france/

22-Apr 2017 Indonesia live 3 GreenTurtle https://daerah.sindonews.com/read/1199570/174/polisi-gagalkan-

penyelundupan-penyu-hijau-asal-lebak-1492943481

16-Jan 2017 Indonesia live 2 GreenTurtle http://222.124.220.45/read/bali/2017/01/17/71327/diduga-hendak-

diselundupkan-dua-penyu-hijau-berhasil-diamankan.html

20-Feb 2017 Indonesia live 32 unknown

80

dead 6 unknown https://news.mongabay.com/2017/03/law-enforcers-recover-38-sea-turtles-in-

eastern-indonesia/

15-Nov 2017 Indonesia eggs 450 unknown https://www.liputan6.com/regional/read/3164495/aksi-nekat-kakek-nenek-di-

jember-jual-ratusan-telur-penyu

16-Nov 2017 Indonesia live 9 GreenTurtle http://www.mongabay.co.id/2017/11/21/dua-kasus-penangkapan-penyu-di-ntt-

dalam-sepekan-kok-bisa/live 3 HawksbillTurtle

4-Oct 2017 Indonesia shell 439 HawksbillTurtle http://www.mongabay.co.id/2017/10/07/balai-karantina-gagalkan-

penyelundupan-ratusan-tempurung-penyu-sisik-eh-pelaku-kabur/

7-Jul 2017 Indonesia live 50 HawksbillTurtle,

GreenTurtle,Olive

RidleyTurtle

http://www.siwalimanews.com/post/bksda_kkp_gerebek_penangkaran_penyu_i

legal

23-Mar 2017 Indonesia live 7 GreenTurtle http://kupang.tribunnews.com/2017/03/24/hendak-jual-tujuh-ekor-penyu-hijau-

nelayan-kupang-barat-dibekuk-polisi

25-May 2017 Indonesia eggs 300 unknown http://news.rakyatku.com/read/50090/2017/05/25/jual-telur-penyu-dagangan-

orang-ini-disita

5-Aug 2017 Indonesia shell(bangles

andrings)

554 unknown http://mandarnews.com/2017/08/05/polisi-sita-aksesoris-yang-terbuat-dari-

cangkang-penyu/

15-Feb 2017 Indonesia meat 400 kg unknown https://regional.kompas.com/read/2017/02/27/21310091/polisi.amankan.400.k

g.daging.penyu.di.kuta.bali

9-Aug 2017 Malaysia live 1 unknown https://www.bharian.com.my/berita/kes/2017/08/311094/apmm-rampas-

penyu-agar-ikan-yu

7-Oct 2017 Malaysia shell 97 kg GreenTurtle https://www.borneotoday.net/2-foreign-nationals-jailed-fined-for-trading-

protected-green-turtles/

12-Oct 2017 Malaysia eggs 27 unknown https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2017/10/290424/woman-held-buying-

turtle-eggs

12-Oct 2017 Malaysia eggs 168 unknown https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2017/10/290424/woman-held-buying-

turtle-eggs

9-Aug 2017 Malaysia eggs 3300 unknown http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=119318

7-Aug 2017 Malaysia eggs 83 GreenTurtle http://www.theborneopost.com/2017/08/16/trio-charged-with-possession-of-

turtle-eggs/

7-Aug 2017 Malaysia eggs 130 GreenTurtle http://www.theborneopost.com/2017/08/16/trio-charged-with-possession-of-

turtle-eggs/

7-Aug 2017 Malaysia eggs 23 GreenTurtle http://www.theborneopost.com/2017/08/16/trio-charged-with-possession-of-

turtle-eggs/

16-Aug 2017 Malaysia eggs 345 unknown https://www.pressreader.com/malaysia/the-borneo-post-

sabah/20170811/281582355728583

25-May 2017 Malaysia meat 53 kg GreenTurtle WWF

shell 30 kg

19-May 2017 Malaysia eggs 3000 unknown http://www.theborneopost.com/2017/05/20/man-held-over-3000-turtle-eggs-

in-sandakan/

81

30-Apr 2017 Malaysia organs unknown GreenTurtle http://www.thesundaily.my/news/2017/05/01/five-filipinos-arrested-hunting-

endangered-sea-turtlesmeat 100 kg

shell 25

16-Nov 2017 VietNam live 1 unknown http://www.robindesbois.org/wp-content/uploads/ON_THE_TRAIL_19.pdf

1-Nov 2017 VietNam live 2 HawksbillTurtle http://www.robindesbois.org/wp-content/uploads/ON_THE_TRAIL_19.pdf

22-Sep 2017 VietNam live 4 GreenTurtle http://www.vqgnuichua.vn/chitiettin.aspx?id=2176

15-Sep 2017 VietNam live 1 unknown http://207.204.5.11/wp-content/uploads/ON_THE_TRAIL_18.pdf

22-Aug 2017 VietNam taxidermied 2 HawskbillTurtle,

GreenTurtle

http://207.204.5.11/wp-content/uploads/ON_THE_TRAIL_18.pdf

12-Jul 2017 VietNam live 1 unknown http://daolyson.info/dao-be/ngu-dan-dao-ly-son-tha-rua-bien-quy-hiem-ve-voi-

tu-nhien/

5-May 2017 VietNam live 1 HawksbillTurtle http://207.204.5.11/wp-content/uploads/ON_THE_TRAIL_17.pdf

13-Jun 2017 VietNam live 1 GreenTurtle http://207.204.5.11/wp-content/uploads/ON_THE_TRAIL_17.pdf

30-Jun 2017 VietNam taxidermied 1 unknown http://207.204.5.11/wp-content/uploads/ON_THE_TRAIL_17.pdf

4-Jun 2017 VietNam eggs 30 GreenTurtle https://tuoitre.vn/30-qua-trung-vich-doi-21-thang-cai-tao-va-50-trieu-

20171007145538958.htm

1-Jul 2017 China taxidermied 38 HawksbillTurtle WildAid2018

1-Jun 2017 China taxidermied 2 HawksbillTurtle WildAid2018

26-Nov 2016 China taxidermied 1 unknown http://www.customs.gov.cn/publish/portal0/tab65602/info831091.htm

1-Sep 2016 China live 153 HawksbillTurtle WildAid2018

2-Feb 2016 China shell 33 HawksbillTurtle TRAFFIC

19-Nov 2016 Indonesia live 20 HawksbillTurtle https://makassar.terkini.id/penyelundupan-20-ekor-penyu-hijau-digagalkan/

28-Jun 2016 Indonesia eggs 17 unknown http://bpspldenpasar.info/penanganan-telur-penyu-sitaan-bkipm-kelas-1-

denpasar-di-bandara-ngurah-rai-bali/

20-Apr 2016 Indonesia live 71 LeatherbackTurtle https://daerah.sindonews.com/read/1102543/174/71-penyu-raksasa-senilai-

miliaran-rupiah-disita-polisi-1461138500

1-Apr 2016 Indonesia live 31 GreenTurtle http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3539362/Bali-police-release-wild-31-

sea-turtles-captured-gang-poachers.html

25-May 2016 Indonesia live 8 unknown https://balebengong.id/berita-utama/perdagangan-penyu-di-bali-kembali-

marak.html?lang=id

19-May 2016 Indonesia live 1 GreenTurtle https://balebengong.id/berita-utama/perdagangan-penyu-di-bali-kembali-

marak.html?lang=id

14-May 2016 Indonesia live 12 GreenTurtle https://arumsekartaji.wordpress.com/2016/07/25/penyu-terjepit-karang-

blowing-rocks-florida/seorang-wisatawan-membantu-menggotong-penyu-hijau-

chelonia-mydas-yang-berhasil-disita-polisi-dari-upaya-penyelundupan-saat-akan-

dilepas-di-pantai-kuta-bali-rabu-145/

30-Jul 2016 Indonesia dead 2 GreenTurtle http://sultravelers.blogspot.com/2016/08/ikan-napoleon-dan-penyu-biru-

milik.html

82

3-Mar 2016 Indonesia shell 365 HawksbillTurtle http://gosulsel.com/2016/03/03/jual-cangkang-penyu-sisik-nelayan-ini-raup-

duit-puluhan-juta/

3-Mar 2016 Indonesia shell 25 packets HawksbillTurtle http://www.lintasntt.com/polisi-tangkap-penjual-cangkang-penyu-dari-lembata/

14-Oct 2016 Indonesia shell 20 kg unknown http://www.mongabay.co.id/2016/10/18/perdagangan-kulit-harimau-

terbongkar-di-riau-dan-medan/

28-Sep 2016 Indonesia dead 1 GreenTurtle http://www.mongabay.co.id/2016/09/29/miris-penyu-ini-dipotong-dan-dijual-di-

pasar-amurang/

24-Sep 2016 Indonesia eggs 125 unknown https://www.merdeka.com/peristiwa/pedagang-telur-penyu-dibekuk-saat-

sedang-berjualan.html

20-Sep 2016 Indonesia eggs 139 unknown TRAFFIC

7-Sep 2016 Indonesia live 10 unknown TRAFFIC

17-Aug 2016 Indonesia eggs 4600 unknown http://www.beraunews.com/hukum-kriminal/polres/985-penyelundupan-ribuan-

telur-penyu-digagalkan-polsek-tanjung-redeb

2-Aug 2016 Indonesia eggs 63 unknown http://pontianak.tribunnews.com/2016/08/03/63-telur-penyu-diamankan-

anggota-bksda

29-Jul 2016 Indonesia eggs 161 unknown https://www.mongabay.co.id/2016/07/31/lagi-500-telur-penyu-asal-kepulauan-

riau-dijual-di-pontianak/

25-May 2016 Indonesia eggs 150 OliveRidley http://www.antaranews.com/foto/99644/razia-hewan-dilindungi

taxidermied 2

25-May 2016 Indonesia live 29 GreenTurtle http://bali.tribunnews.com/2016/05/26/satpolair-buleleng-gagalkan-

penyelundupan-29-penyu-hijau-satu-mati

21-Apr 2016 Indonesia taxidermied 1 HawksbillTurtle http://www.tribunnews.com/tribunners/2016/04/22/klhk-dan-polda-kalbar-

tangkap-pedagang-assesoris-dari-organ-satwa-langka

21-Apr 2016 Indonesia shell 1 GreenTurtle http://www.tribunnews.com/tribunners/2016/04/22/klhk-dan-polda-kalbar-

tangkap-pedagang-assesoris-dari-organ-satwa-langka

17-Apr 2016 Indonesia live 2 HawksbillTurtle https://www.republika.co.id/berita/nasional/daerah/16/04/17/o5s9s4282-polisi-

tangkap-pedagang-penyu-sisikdead 1

16-Apr 2016 Indonesia live 70 GreenTurtle http://regional.kontan.co.id/news/penyelundupan-70-ekor-penyu-hijau-

digagalkan

21-Mar 2016 Indonesia taxidermied 1 LeatherbackTurtle http://harianrakyatbengkulu.com/ver3/2016/03/23/polisi-sita-obsetan-penyu/

6-Apr 2016 Indonesia live 45 GreenTurtle https://komunita.id/2016/04/28/jaan-seharusnya-penyu-selundupan-itu-

langsung-dipulangkan-ke-laut/

7-Apr 2016 Indonesia live 40 GreenTurtle https://www.facebook.com/176585509072713/videos/1163501477047773/

1-Apr 2016 Indonesia taxidermied 8 HawksbillTurtle http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/04/07/police-discover-illegal-

wildlife-trade-in-c-java.htmlshell 3

shell(bangles

andrings)

382

29-Mar 2016 Indonesia shell unknown HawksbillTurtle http://portalsatu.com/read/news/petugas-gagalkan-penyelundupan-bagian-

tubuh-satwa-9350

83

28-Feb 2016 Indonesia shell 135 HawksbillTurtle http://www.merdeka.com/peristiwa/135-suvenir-cangkang-penyu-sisik-di-berau-

kaltim-disita-kkp.html

3-Mar 2016 Indonesia shell unknown HawksbillTurtle http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/04/islands-focus-police-stop-

endangered-turtle-smuggling.html

2-Sep 2016 Indonesia live 1 GreenTurtle http://www.papuapos.com/index.php/seputar-jayapura/port-

numbay/item/6478-penyu-hijau-kembali-ke-laut

8-Dec 2016 Malaysia live 1200 unknown https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/200-rare-turtles-die-on-smugglers-boat-

heading-from-malaysia-to-vietnam-3510686.htmldead 200

10-Nov 2016 Malaysia eggs 3011 unknown WWF-SWD2018

3-Sep 2016 Malaysia eggs 3000 GreenTurtle WWF-SWD2018

3-Sep 2016 Malaysia eggs 500 unknown WWF-SWD2018

3-Sep 2016 Malaysia eggs 4000 unknown WWF-SWD2018

1-Sep 2016 Malaysia eggs 9900 unknown WWF-SWD2018

23-Jul 2016 Malaysia shell 2 GreenTurtle WWF

17-Jul 2016 Malaysia eggs 4050 unknown WWF-SWD2018

16-Jul 2016 Malaysia eggs 19000 GreenTurtle https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2016/07/16/sabah-police-turtle-

eggs/

27-Jun 2016 Malaysia shell 4 unknown WWF

21-Jun 2016 Malaysia eggs 365 unknown WWF-SWD2018

13-Apr 2016 Malaysia shell 18 unknown https://www.hmetro.com.my/node/130315

5-Mar 2016 Malaysia dead 19 GreenTurtle WWF

15-Jan 2016 Malaysia dead 6 unknown WWF

20-Jul 2016 VietNam meat 8 kg unknown https://thanhnien.vn/doi-song/bat-qua-tang-mot-thanh-nien-xe-thit-rua-bien-

quy-hiem-o-phu-quy-725299.html

9-Jul 2016 VietNam live 2 unknown http://207.204.5.11/wp-content/uploads/ON_THE_TRAIL_14.pdf

18-Mar 2016 VietNam live 1 GreenTurtle http://www.bienphong.com.vn/tha-4-con-rua-bien-ve-tu-nhien/

22-Feb 2016 VietNam live 1 GreenTurtle http://207.204.5.11/wp-content/uploads/ON_THE_TRAIL_12.pdf

17-Jun 2016 VietNam eggs 116 GreenTurtle https://tuoitre.vn/30-qua-trung-vich-doi-21-thang-cai-tao-va-50-trieu-

20171007145538958.htm

7-Jun 2016 VietNam live 3 OliveRidley TRAFFIC

6-Jun 2016 VietNam live 2 OliveRidley TRAFFIC

4-Aug 2016 VietNam taxidermied 17 HawksbillTurtle TRAFFIC

2-Aug 2016 VietNam taxidermied 4 HawksbillTurtle TRAFFIC

2-Jun 2016 VietNam taxidermied 2 HawksbillTurtle https://www.facebook.com/EducationforNatureVietnam/photos/a.15598277778

0655.30084.135213259857607/1096459313732992/?type=3&theater

2-Jun 2016 VietNam taxidermied 2 GreenTurtle https://www.facebook.com/EducationforNatureVietnam/photos/a.15598277778

0655.30084.135213259857607/1096459313732992/?type=3&theater

13-May 2016 VietNam live 1 OliveRidley TRAFFIC

4-May 2016 VietNam live 1 GreenTurtle http://207.204.5.11/wp-content/uploads/ON_THE_TRAIL_13.pdf

84

18-Jul 2016 VietNam live 1 HawksbillTurtle TRAFFIC

28-Jul 2016 Philippines dead 100 HawksbillTurtle http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/28/16/look-100-dead-hawksbill-sea-turtles-

in-palawan

31-Oct 2016 China dead 109 HawksbillTurtle http://laodong.com.vn/thoi-su-xa-hoi/chua-day-1-tuan-giai-cuu-9-ca-the-dong-

vat-hoang-da-560583.bldheads 102

21-Jan 2016 VietNam taxidermied 9 GreenTurtle https://web.archive.org/web/20160121033235/https://www.facebook.com/Edu

cationforNatureVietnam/photos/a.155982777780655.30084.135213259857607/

1010622415650016/?type=3&theater

23-Jun 2015 Indonesia live 18 GreenTurtle http://badungku.blogspot.com/2015/06/dari-rumah-makan-kawasan-penatih-

dan.html

11-Dec 2015 Indonesia taxidermied 1 HawksbillTurtle http://www.newswise.com//articles/major-illegal-tiger-skin-trader-arrested-in-

indonesiashell 1 unknown

22-Oct 2015 Indonesia shell 345 kg unknown http://www.mongabay.co.id/2015/10/25/perdagangan-satwa-liar-lewat-paket-

ekspedisi-makin-menjadi/

22-Oct 2015 Indonesia meat 70 kg unknown http://www.mongabay.co.id/2015/10/25/perdagangan-satwa-liar-lewat-paket-

ekspedisi-makin-menjadi/

24-Nov 2015 Indonesia shell 1 GreenTurtle http://bali.tribunnews.com/2015/11/24/lakukan-operasi-penumpang-di-benoa-

cangkang-penyu-disita

17-Sep 2015 Indonesia live 45 GreenTurtle http://regional.kompas.com/read/2015/09/17/17400591/Penyelundupan.45.Pe

nyu.dari.Madura.Digagalkan.Tiga.Orang.Buron

31-Aug 2015 Indonesia eggs 6725 unknown https://regional.kompas.com/read/2015/09/02/21342641/Penyelundupan.6.725

.Telur.Penyu.ke.Malaysia.Digagalkan

30-Jul 2015 Indonesia taxidermied 5 unknown http://www.mongabay.co.id/2015/07/31/gerebek-toko-barang-antik-di-

bandung-temukan-puluhan-souvenir-satwa-dilindungi/

13-Jun 2015 Indonesia live 1 GreenTurtle http://www.mongabay.co.id/2015/06/16/polres-minahasa-utara-gagalkan-

perdagangan-penyu-hijau-bagaimana-ceritanya/

5-Jun 2015 Indonesia meat 56 kg GreenTurtle https://www.facebook.com/baliseaturtlesociety/photos/pcb.994110763932353/

994109857265777/?type=1&theater

19-Jan 2015 Indonesia dead 50 HawksbillTurtle http://birdsheadseascape.com/conservation-science/indonesian-government-

sinks-vietnamese-shark-poaching-boat-creates-new-dive-site-2/

14-Feb 2015 Indonesia dead 1 HawksbillTurtle http://nasional.news.viva.co.id/news/read/589921-polisi-ringkus-penjual-

harimau-yang-diawetkan

31-Jan 2015 Indonesia dead 1 GreenTurtle http://www.lensaindonesia.com/2015/01/31/polda-jatim-dan-interpol-inggris-

ungkap-penyelundupan-satwa-langka.html

11-Dec 2015 Malaysia eggs 430 unknown WWF-SWD2018

29-Nov 2015 Malaysia eggs 3000 unknown WWF-SWD2018

15-Nov 2015 Malaysia eggs 3000 unknown https://www.nst.com.my/news/2015/11/111617/boatman-arrested-smuggling-

attempt-30000-turtle-eggs-seized

85

18-Aug 2015 Malaysia eggs 2600 unknown http://www.theborneopost.com/2015/06/24/2100-turtle-eggs-rm28548-

cigarettes-seized/#ixzz3dwMKmxDP

23-Jun 2015 Malaysia eggs 2100 unknown http://www.nst.com.my/node/96749

17-Mar 2015 Malaysia eggs 280 unknown http://www.utusan.com.my/berita/wilayah/sarawak/280-telur-penyu-dirampas-

di-tiga-pasar-1.70579

31-Dec 2015 VietNam live 2 GreenTurtle http://207.204.5.11/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/ON_THE_TRAIL_10.pdf

17-Dec 2015 VietNam live 1 GreenTurtle http://207.204.5.11/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/ON_THE_TRAIL_11.pdf

9-Dec 2015 VietNam live 6 HawksbillTurtle,

GreenTurtle

http://207.204.5.11/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/ON_THE_TRAIL_11.pdf

4-Nov 2015 VietNam dead unknown unknown https://vnexpress.net/tin-tuc/thoi-su/hang-nghin-con-rua-bien-tac-ke-say-kho-

van-chuyen-vao-viet-nam-3315337.html

24-Jul 2015 VietNam live 1 GreenTurtle http://207.204.5.11/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/ON_THE_TRAIL_10.pdf

8-Apr 2015 VietNam live 1 unknown http://207.204.5.11/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ON_THE_TRAIL_9.pdf

27-Jan 2015 VietNam shells 2.7 kg unknown http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2928264/Police-discover-frozen-tiger-

cut-five-parts-animal-bones-turtle-shells-hidden-truck-Vietnam-destined-black-

market-traditional-medicine.html

86

ANNEX V: MARINE TURTLE HATCHERY INFORMATION FOR INDONESIA 2018

JavaInMay2018,eightsiteswerevisitedinJavatoassessthecurrentstateofturtlemanagementthere.Nestingbeachesonotherislandswerelisted.Eggpoachingwasreportedfromallsites.Touristsatallsitesweremainlylocal.Hatcheryfacilitiesweregenerallyverysimpleandcoulddowithimprovement.Hatchlingturtleswereoftenkeptforsixmonths.Fungaldiseaseswerecommon.Insummary:No Location Description1 PramukaIsland,

PulauSeribu,JakartaBay,WestJava

Thegovernment-runturtlehatcheryonP.Pramukawasclosedtotouristswhileundergoingrenovationandconstructionofaturtleclinic(startJuly2018)andthereweresomehawksbillturtlehatchlingsandaveryfewyoungcaptiveHawksbillandgreenturtlesthere.30%mortalitieswererecorded.

2 HarapanIsland,PulauSeribu,JakartaBay,WestJava

Government-run,hasaneducationalthemeandaguide.LargenumbersofHawksbilleggsandhatchlingswerebeingkept,andthreeadultHawksbillturtleswerebeingheldthere.Rangerspatrolbeaches3-4timesamonth.20-30%mortalitieswererecorded

3 KelapaDuaIslandPulauSeribu,JakartaBay,WestJava

Government–run,theyhaveaninformation/educationboardondisplay.Noeggsinthehatchery(usingbucketsonly),462hatchlingHawksbillturtlesand11youngturtles.Hatchlingsarekeptfor6monthsbeforerelease.30%mortalitieswererecorded.

4 Pangumbahan,Sukabumi,WestJava

Government-runfacility.Aninformationboardforeducation,andaguide.2703Greenturtleeggsinthehatchery,and4youngturtles.Hatchlingsarenotkeptbutreleasedonthedayofhatching.Duringthepeakhatchingseason((September-October)over300hatchlingsarereleasedeveryday.OliveRidleyswerelastseenin2012.Dailypatrols.10-20%mortality.

5 CemaraBeach,PantaiRejo,Banyuwangi,EastJava

RunbylocalNGOPokMasWas.FundedbyoilcompanyPertaminaandotherdonations.Educationalinformationboard,Guide.Someinternationalvisitors.874OliveRidleyeggskeptinanindoorhatchery,58hatchlingsand6youngturtles.20-30%mortality.Peoplecan‘adoptaturtle’forRp.20,000.

6 SukamadeBeach,MeruBetiriNationalPark,Banyuwangi,EastJava

Government–run.4speciesofturtle(Green,Hawksbill,OliveRidley,andrarely,Leatherback)nestalongthecoast.15097Greenturtleand3207OliveRidleyeggsinthehatchery,Mortalities20%.ForRp.30,000visitorscangoonaturtlewatchatnight,andaturtlereleaseinthemorning.

7 NgagelanBeach,AlasPurwoNationalPark,Banyuwangi,EastJava

Government–run.Visitorsaremainlyinternationaltourists.16,302OliveRidleyeggsinhatcheryand106hatchlings.10%mortalityreported.Onlyonenestofeggskeptfor3monthsafterhatching,therestreleased.Hatcheryisoutsidewithstrongmeshtoprotecteggsfrommonkeys.4speciesnestalongthisbeach–Green,OliveRidley,HawksbillandoccasionallyLeatherback.Dailypatrols.

8 BoomBeach,Banyuwangi,EastJava

Establishedin2011.FacilityrunbytheBanyuwangiTurtleFoundationNGO.Touristvisitsnotencouraged.IndoorhatcherywithCCTV.9008OliveRidleyeggsinhatchery.Noadultorhatchlingturtleskept.EggsboughtfromlocalpeopleforRp.2,500eachasanincentivenottosellelsewhere.5%Mortality.OliveRidleysstillnestalongthebeachinspiteofheavytouristpressure,lightsandnoise.Educationaltalkstoschoolsandturtleeventsforpublicawareness.Websitewww.bstf.org.

87

BaliIn2018,12turtlehatcheriesandattractionswereidentifiedInBali.Insummary:No. Name Location Notes1. KurmaAsih DesaPerancak,Kabupaten

Jembrana

Formerly fundedbyDaihatsu.Uncertainwhether this isstillthecase.Farfrommainroad.Someeggs,sticks.Nopublicinformation.

2 TECSerangan

DesaSerangan,KotaDenpasar

Awell-runfacilityformerlysupportedbyWWF.Eggsareboughtfromlocalpeople.Turtlesarereleasedsoonafterhatching.Knowledgeablestaff, lecturetheatre for turtletalks to schools, public. Many overseas visitors. Needsurgentfundingtoenlargehatchery.Noeggsinsand.Runson donations. Receives little /no financial support fromBKSDAbutlegal.Hasbrokenpump,needsanewonetopump in sea water. Some turtles sick. Parasites andbuoyancyproblems.

3 KonservasiPenyudanKura-Kura

Serangan A community-run operation. Only 5 large Green turtlesand hawksbills in a covered pond. Eggs kept in smallbuckets.Visitorscanfeedtheturtleswithseaweed.Notmuch educational value. Many floating baskets withhatchlings.Boughtfromlocalpeople.

4 DeluangSariTurtleFarm

DesaTanjungBenoa,Benoa,KabupatenBadung

Overcrowded,poorconditions.MostlyAsiantourists.

5 KonservasiPenyuSabaAsri

PantaiSaba,Gianyar Locked up at time of visit. No access. Some eggs in ahatchery visible over fence. Strange notice aboutdonationRp.5million?BankPadmanotice–sponsor?

6 KonservasiPenyuSindhuDwarawai

PantaiSindhu,Sanur Verysmall.Suffersfromlackoffunding.Onbeachbutnotpopularwithwesterntourists.

7 KonservasiPenyuYehGangga

PantaiYehGangga,Tabanan Nesting beach only. No hatchery. No info. Old buildingnowusedforstorageofceremonial(Barong)items.

8 KonservasiPenyuPemuteran

PantaiPemuteran,KabupatenBuleleng

Noinfo

9 PenangkaranPenyuTegalBesar

PantaiTegalBesar,KabupatenKlungkung

Noinfo

10 BaliSeaTurtleSociety

PantaiKuta,Kuta,KabupatenBadung

Well run facility.Many eggs collected on tourist beach,incubatedandreleasedsamedayofhatching(releasesdonot ask for payment). Good community relationsManywesternvisitors.Urgentlyneedsmoreroomforhatcherytoexpand.

11 PenangkaranPenyuMooncotSari

TanjungBenoa Inadequate in many ways. Dirty, overcrowded, noeducationalvalue.AlmostentirelyAsianvisitors.

12 PenangkaranPenyuBulihBali

PulauPudut,BenoaTanjungBenoa

Areaapprox.1000m2.1bigpond(partialshade),5smallponds.10bigGTinbigpondin10cmdeepdirtymuddywater(lowtide),severalsmallandmediumsizedturtles

88

‘NewBulihBaliTurtleFarm”

(HT and ORT in smaller ponds covered with big mesh(“becausetheybite”).Guideswereverybadlyinformed.Otheranimalsinrustysmallcagesincluded1reticulatedpython,4owlsfromJava(?),fruitbats,1greeniguana,2palmcivets.Guides insistedonpeoplesittingonturtles,even if theydidnotwant to.Photos takenof themandthenchargedRp.200,00.Visitorsalsoencouragedtofeedturtleswithhandfulsofseaweed.

13 TurtleProject

DesaPemuteran,KecamatanGerokgak,BulelengBali.(since1992)

Managedbytheownerof“ReefSeenDivers’Resort”.Hatcheryandreleases.Localpeoplegivenincentivetobringturtleeggstofacility.Visitorsaskedtopayadonationtoreleasebabyturtles.AdultHawksboillturtlesalsoreleased.Pondsforhatchlingandadultturtles. Records show receipt of 1750 eggs, 1467hatchlings,1017hatchlingreleases,116adultturtlereleases.(to05June2018)