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Professor Nicholas Mrosovsky (University of Toronto) continued his attack on the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and one of its associated volunteer networks, the Marine Turtle Specialist Group (MTSG) using the unusual technique of writing for the London broadsheets. In a fifteen paragraph article entitled, "The great sea turtle hoax", he suggests (among other things) that: 1) The IUCN has been hijacked by groups that wish to see no international trade or consumptive use of turtles; 2) The listing of hawksbill turtles as critically endangered was contradictory as they are not expected to go extinct in the near future; 3) The precautionary approach being adopted by many leads to extreme measures; 4) Although the IUCN advocates sustainable use, members of the MTSG have advocated burning of hawksbill turtle shell; the antithesis of sustainable use. Source: Daily Telegraph, 8 October 2000.

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Spanish hotel chain Sol Melia was "cheated" by a fugitive Mexican governor when it bought land on a prime turtle nesting beach for a resort project, Greenpeace said. Calling on the Mexican government to turn down an application from Sol Melia to build on the X'Cacel beach in the Caribbean state of Cancun, a project that has faced fierce opposition from ecologists, Greenpeace said the land should have been declared a nature reserve, not a building site. Villanueva, the former governor of the southeastern state of Quintana Roo, has been on the lam since being accused last year of allowing drug traffickers to turn his state into a major landing post for Colombian cocaine. Source: Reuters News Service, 17 August 2000. Pre-Dawn Raid by Wildlife Officers Nets 13 on 101 Charges

A pre-dawn raid by state wildlife officers in Everglades City, Florida netted 13 people on 101 charges of violating wildlife, marine fish and drug laws. The arrests come after a two-year investigation called "Operation Alliance" by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in the small fishing village that is the western gateway for Everglades National Park. The 13 men arrested are accused of illegally selling and possessing alligators, snook, jewfish, a loggerhead sea turtle, stone crabs, gag grouper and marijuana. An undercover Fish and Wildlife Commission agent worked as a cook and caterer in the fishing village for two years collecting evidence. Source: Naples Daily News, 24 August 2000.

Environmental activist Robert Kennedy Jr. asked a federal judge Tuesday to stop U.S. Navy exercises on Puerto Rico's outlying island of Vieques, charging that six decades of explosions have harmed endangered sea creatures and contaminated land. Kennedy, acting as senior counsel for the New York-based National Resources Defense Council, filed a 55-page complaint and hundreds of pages of evidence asking for a temporary restraining order as the Navy prepares for a new round of exercises around Vieques this month. A Navy spokesman said the Navy marks sea turtle nests as simulated mines during exercises so they will not be disturbed. Source: Associated Press, 10 October 2000.

President Clinton put the final stamp of approval on the Inter-American Convention, the first international agreement dedicated solely to raising standards for the protection of sea turtles. Ratification of the convention was already approved by the Senate. Source: Reuters, 12 October 2000.

During August and September, 2000, the nonprofit Oceanic Resource Foundation (ORF) deployed satellite transmitters on two sea turtles on the beach at Lechuguillas, Veracruz, Mexico. The green turtles (Chelonia mydas) were named Zyanya and Roberta. Information about the tagging project and migration tracking is available on the ORF website at <http://www.orf.org/turtles.html>. Source: Oceanic Resource Foundation, 26 October 2000.

Leading marine scientists are calling on Texas Governor George W. Bush to make the marine environment a priority and create a protected area for sea turtles, the shrimp fishery and declining fish species in Texas. The scientists' statement was released as the state of Texas wrangled over new shrimp regulations that propose a shrimp closure. More than 250 scientists asked Bush to publicly support a marine reserve closed to shrimp fishing along the Texas coast. Source: Environment News Service, 16 August 2000.

Malaysia has asked the World Trade Organization to rule that the United States was acting illegally through a law aimed at protecting endangered sea turtles by blocking some shrimp imports. The move is the next step in a process that could eventually see Malaysia impose trade sanctions on the United States. Malaysia claims Washington should have fully repealed a law that bans imports of shrimp from countries which use trawling nets that trap the turtles. Only countries where shrimp nets are equipped with turtle-excluder devices costing about $75 are allowed to export to the United States. Following complaints from Malaysia, Pakistan, India and Thailand, the U.S. law was ruled illegal by the WTO almost two years ago. The United States was given until December 1999 to change its system, but instead of repealing the legislation, it changed its guidelines and put into place a program of assistance to countries to help them equip their fishing fleet with turtle excluders. Source: Associated Press, 24 October 2000.

Visakha SPCA founder Pradeep Kumar Nath, of Visakhapatnam, India, is trying to defend endangered olive ridley sea turtle females and their hatchlings from the navy of his own nation. His weapon of last resort, after all efforts at gentle persuasion failed, was to seek a High Court writ protecting the Visakhapatnam beach against Indian Navy incursion. Now Nath himself and two Visakha SPCA employees are formally charged with criminally handling wildlife, falsifying evidence, and attempted extortion.

[According to Nath], "The Indian Navy has started the construction of a museum on the beach sand," to consist of "pulling up a decommissioned submarine and ship. They are set to occupy a site of 200 meters in length and 30 meters in width, coinciding with the point of greatest concentration of sea turtle nestings. I objected and asked them to leave a strip 10 meters wide for the turtles. As there was no cooperation from them, the Visakha SPCA board decided to file a writ in court. Even after filing, we continued to seek an agreement to leave the 10-meter strip out of the project".

The submarine-and-ship exhibit will have no military value. Described as "educational", it appears to be chiefly a gimick meant to stimulate waterfront commerce which ecotourism could do instead. Source: Animal People, June 2000.

Despite clear obligations imposed by the Presidential Decree for a 3 year term of office, the Provisional Management Body of the ZNMP has been set up for only 6 months ending 3/1/2001. Thus the Body is constrained and weakened before it can even start to effectively function. Far from spending its time setting up the infrastructure and long term strategy of the ZNMP, as would be expected, the Management's main task is to adopt the collection of proposals for amendments to the Presidential Decree setting up the Park. There are local expectations that the Body will announce considerable concessions in the terms of the Presidential Decree where it regards the level of environmental protection and development restrictions within the National Park boundaries. Compensatory arrangements proposed by the Government are not those hoped for by the local population. The government is trying to change the provisions of the Presidential Decree to satisfy the demands of the those affected, bringing into question the basic principles embodied in the Special Impact Assessment as regards land use within the core of the ZNMP. Source: MEDASSET press release, 18 October 2000.

During the summer 2000 research of the Mediterranean Association to Save The Sea Turtles, green turtles have been observed covered with a calcareous material on their shells, heads and extremities. Kazanli is the second most important green turtle nesting beach in the Mediterranean. The turtles at Kazanli also face other major threats [including beach erosion, agriculture, light pollution, water pollution, litter, and fishing]. Source: MEDASSET press release, 9 November 2000.

MEDASSET (Mediterranean Association to Save the Sea Turtles) has persuaded the Greek National Telephone Organisation (OTE) to issue "Save the Sea Turtle" telephone cards beautifully printed with images of loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and green (Chelonia mydas) sea turtles. It is the hope of MEDASSET and OTE to raise public awareness in Greece, regarding the plight of the endangered Mediterranean sea turtles. Source: MEDASSET press release, 9 November 2000.

No news stories this issue. Regional workers please forward and keep rest of the world informed.