MTN 33:3-4 Olive Ridleys of Honduras

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Olive Ridleys of Honduras

Cynthia Minarik
2631 Ulysses St. NE, Minneapolis, MN 55418 USA

The Gulf of Fonseca on the Pacific side of Honduras is shared with El Salvador and Nicaragua. Initial observations of the olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) in Honduras were made by Archie Carr in 1947 and by Peter Pritchard in 1967. Until 1975, with the start of the first beach hatchery project, no other work had been done.

In 1959 the Honduran Fish Law was established. It is the first and only law to protect sea turtles and their eggs from commercial use in Honduras, although a stricter law is now before the Congress. The Fish Law was not put into practice until 1975 when the first off-season for egg collecting was established on the "south" coast.

Sea turtles are not sought after on the "south" coast of Honduras. The custom of eating turtle meat or using other turtle products from live turtles has not been established in that area. Turtles are occasionally caught in seine nets and released. Although the animals are not hunted, the eggs are highly prized. The report by Pritchard (1969) that "every night there were far more egg collectors than turtles on the beach" still holds true today. Nearly 100% of the nests are collected by local residents.

Turtle eggs are considered an aphrodisiac throughout Honduras. They are customarily served as hors d'oeuvres with alcoholic drinks in bars and restaurants. Commonly, a raw egg is placed in a glass with a touch of lemon, salt, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce.

The laying season runs from July through December, although beach residents report that turtles lay throughout the rest of the year in sparse numbers. Each year except one since 1975, a two to three week off-season for egg collecting has been established by the Honduran Government Department of Renewable Natural Resources. During this off-season project workers patrol approximately 25 km of beach. The workers are government employees, University students, Boy Scouts, Peace Corps Volunteers and other interested individuals. The patrolled area is broken up by numerous estuaries and coverage is not 100%. Nests are collected at night and a boat is used to transport them to the hatchery corral at dawn. Hatchery success has been variable. The first year a hatch rate of 72.7% was reported (Burgos & Pérez 1975), but subsequent years have been much lower; one year the hatchery was completely destroyed by a storm. Not until 1981 did the hatch rate improve to 55% (Donovan & Minarik 1981), with reported rates of 40% in 1982 (DIGERENARE 1982),45.8% in 1983 (Minarik 1984) and 78.2% in 1984.

I gave reports on the life cycle of the marine turtle and its status in the area studied to elementary and secondary school classes, to biology students at the National Autonomous University of Honduras and to employees of the American Embassy. Presentations have covered all age, economic and education levels.

Burgos E. and D. E. Perez. 1975. Algunas Observaciones Sobre la Tortuga Marina Lepidochelys olivaceaen la Costa Pacífica de Honduras. DIGERENARE. Tegucigalpa, D.C. Honduras. 26pp.

DIGERENARE. 1982. Anidamiento Semi-artificial de la Tortuga Marina Lepidochelys olivacea en el Golfo de Fonseca, durante 1982. Tegucigalpa, D.C. Honduras.

Donovan, M. A. and C. Minarik. 1981. El Proyecto para la Proteccíon de la Tortuga Golfina (Lepidochelys olivacea) en la Costa Sur de Honduras. DIGERENARE, Tegucigalpa, D.C. Honduras. 13pp.

Minarik, C. 1984. Proyecto Para la Proteccíon de la Tortuga Marina Golfina Lepidochelys olivaceaen la Costa Sur de Honduras 1983.

Pritchard, P. C. H. 1969. The survival status of ridley sea turtles in American waters. Biological Conservation 2(1):3-17.