MTN 66:15-16 Illegal Trafficking in Sea Turtle Products Continues Between Mexico and the U.䒷.

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Illegal Trafficking in Sea Turtle Products Continues Between Mexico and the U.䒷.

T. Steiner¹, H. Aridjis², M. Heitchue¹and H. W. Ghriskey¹
¹Sea Turtle Restoration Project, Earth Island Institute, 300 Broadway, Suite 28, San Francisco, California 94133-3312 USA
²Grupo de los Cien, Artistas E Intelectuales A.C., Sierra Jiutepec No. 155-B, Lomas Barrilaco 11010 Mexico D.F.

Through a Freedom of Information Act request to the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Sea Turtle Restoration Project of Earth Island Institute and Grupo de los Cien have documented the continued mass exodus of sea turtle products from Mexico, despite Mexican government promises and laws to halt the traffic. In 1990, Mexico closed the Mazunte (Oaxaca) slaughterhouse and outlawed the killing of all sea turtles in the country [see MTN 50:1-3]. In 1991, Mexico acceded to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), a treaty outlawing international trade in protected species including sea turtles [see MTN 55:14]. In an effort to enforce the new restrictions, SEPESCA (Secretary of Fisheries) reportedly established an elaborate accounting system to allow pre-ban products to continue to be sold within the country while theoretically ensuring no new products would enter the marketplace.

To assess whether Mexican sea turtle products are still involved in international trade, we examined records of confiscated products at the U. S.-Mexico border before and after the ban. More than 9,300 (mostly shoes and boots) have been collected at the U. S. border since 1989. Yearly figures vary from a high of 2,267 products in 1989 to a low of 1,174 products in 1988, both pre-ban years. In the three full years since the ban (1991-1993), the number of items apprehended at the border actually increased from 1991 to 1992, and then decreased slightly in 1993 (Table 1). The same trends are seen in product value.

Table 1. The number and value of sea turtle products confiscated at the U. S.-Mexico border.

Year	Value (US$) ¹	No. Products ¹
1988 (pre-ban)	$67,925	1,174
1989 (pre-ban)	$133,141	2,267
1990 ²	$107,242	1,684
1991 (post-ban)	$87,122	1,471
1992 (post-ban)	$94,273	1,503
1993 (post-ban)	$77,544	1,251
TOTAL (1988-1993)	$567,247	9,350

^{1data courtesy U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
^{2ban in effect, May 1990}In total, more than 4,000 products valued at more than one-quarter million dollars have been confiscated at the U. S. border with Mexico since Mexico outlawed the killing of sea turtles and prohibited sea turtle products from entering into international commerce. These staggering numbers are similar to the number of products confiscated in the years just prior to the ban and suggest that little has changed. Worse, these numbers only represent products actually seized at the U. S. border. We do not believe that the data account for the true number of products entering the U. S., since it's well known that many articles pass undetected. These figures also do not include products exiting Mexico bound for countries other than the U. S.

In May-June 1994 we conducted an informal field survey in Leon, Mexico's shoe manufacturing capital. Sea turtle boots were for sale in dozens of shops. Many were displayed openly, but one needed only to enquire as to what "exotic leathers" were available and sales people routinely produced turtle-skin boots from stores where they were not visibly displayed. Turtle-skin boots were available in several colors and all sizes, indicating a vast inventory. One of the four up-scale Montana shoe stores in "Plaza del Zapato" had "caguama" shoes displayed in their front window! Another shoe store in the central market offered to sell us 24 pairs of turtle boots and give us a receipt for five, thus assuring that their "pre-ban" inventory could be refilled. One small boot manufacturer told us that in September and October (which corresponds to the olive ridley nesting season), individuals arrive in Leon and offer to sell turtle skins in lots of 100-200 skins. Clearly, raw materials and new products continue to enter the marketplace.

The SEPESCA biologist in Leon confirmed that only a few pairs of boots are confiscated each month, with the most recent confiscation of 125 pairs being the largest in three years. This amount represents a small fraction of the boots we encountered in our one-day survey. Boots and shoes were also for sale in the shoe markets surrounding Tepito, Mexico City. Further, a spot-check in Mazatlan revealed small numbers of sea turtle belts and wallets for sale in the tourists markets there. It is now four full years since the much-publicized sea turtle ban went into effect. It would seem that adequate time has passed for all pre-ban articles to have been sold. It is time that conservationists call for an immediate removal of all sea turtle products from the marketplace to ensure that so-called legal trade is not used as a cover for continued illegal trade. Until this happens, the sea turtles of Mexico will not be safe from exploitation.

Please urge Mexican authorities to do more to control the huge (domestic and inter-national) market still flourishing in endangered sea turtle products. Write to President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, Palacio Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico.}