SNH/MCS Scottish Turtle Roadshow

Marine Conservation Society

The UK charity dedicated to the protection of the marine environment and its wildlife
www.mcsuk.org Registered Charity No. 1004005





PRESS RELEASE TURTLE ROADSHOW URGES SCOTTISH SEA-USERS TO LOOK OUT FOR LEATHERBACKS

24.03.05: On Monday 4th April the Marine Conservation Society (MCS)1 launches the Dumfries and Galloway/Ayrshire leg of the Scottish Turtle Roadshow, currently touring key fishing harbours around the entire coast of Scotland and the islands to urge fishermen and other sea-users to report their encounters with critically endangered leatherback turtles2 in Scottish waters. The Roadshow is funded by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH)3 and is part of a national Action Plan for the conservation of turtles in UK waters4. Roadshow presentations will be held as follows:
· 4th April - Kippford Village Hall 7.00pm (part of the Dumfries and Galloway Wildlife Festival)
· 6th April - Girvan Committee Rooms, South Ayrshire Council Buildings, Ayr at 7.00pm
· 7th April – MacMillan Hall, Newton Stewart at 7.00pm, organised in association with the Galloway Static Gear Fishermen’s Association.

Five species of turtle have been recorded in UK and Irish waters, with four of these, the Kemp’s ridley, leatherback, loggerhead and green turtles, all having been recorded in Scottish waters2. While the other species tend to occur as wind-blown strays, leatherback turtles regularly visit Scottish waters each summer, probably to feed on the abundance of jellyfish found there6. The most recent report of a leatherback turtle was of a freshly dead specimen that washed up after the gales at Port William in Dumfries and Galloway on the 11th of January.

“Little is known about the ecology of leatherback turtles while they visit Scottish waters, but through the Roadshow, we are hoping that more people will become aware of these exotic visitors,” said Dr Martin Gaywood, Species Officer at SNH, “If we receive more reports of turtles spotted in Scotland’s seas, then we will begin to find out more about them and have a better understanding of their conservation needs.”

The Roadshow will involve a series of public presentations about UK turtles held by MCS staff in Scottish fishing towns between February and July. The talks will stress the importance of reporting leatherback encounters and MCS will hand out free information posters and the UK Turtle Code7, a code of conduct for sea-users including information about dealing with entangled turtles and reporting sightings and strandings. MCS is also investigating why leatherback turtles occasionally entangle and drown in fishing gear, especially the buoy-marker ropes of static gear such as crab pots, creels and tangle nets.

“Each year around the UK coast, a few leatherbacks become entangled in ropes associated with bottom-set static gear, but we don’t know why”, said Peter Richardson, MCS Species Policy Officer “Through the Roadshow we are hoping to meet and interview fishermen who have accidentally caught a turtle in their fishing gear. Their stories will be invaluable in helping us understand why this happens and will help us design guidelines to mitigate against future fatal turtle entanglements.”

While the reasons the Port William leatherback died are unclear at present, leatherback turtles face a variety of threats throughout their range, including habitat destruction, hunting and egg harvest at their tropical nesting beaches, as well as accidental entanglement and drowning in fishing gear at sea and ingestion of marine litter such as plastic bags and balloons6.

“Leatherbacks feed on jellyfish, but unfortunately they appear to confuse plastic bags and other floating litter with their prey5. Autopsies done on leatherbacks found dead on Scottish shores have revealed horrendous amounts of rubbish blocking their guts, which have led to the animals starving to death,’ said Peter Richardson, ‘It’s the UK’s responsibility to protect these critically endangered animals while they are visiting our seas, and that is why MCS is not only campaigning for cleaner seas fit for life, but is also working towards preventing future turtle entanglements in fishing gear.’

For further information about the Scottish Turtle Roadshow schedule and copies of MCS materials, or if you have ever accidentally entangled a turtle, please contact Peter Richardson, MCS Species Policy Officer at peter@mcsuk.org or call the MCS office on 01989 566017. Ends

For further information and photographs please contact: Peter Richardson, Species Policy Officer, Marine Conservation Society, Unit 3, Wolf Business Park, Alton Rd, Ross-on-Wye, Herefords HR9 5NB. Tel: 01989 566017, Mobile: 07793 118383, Fax: 01989 567815, E-mail: peter@mcsuk.org

Editor’s notes:
1, The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) is the UK Charity dedicated to the protection of the marine environment and its wildlife. Since its formation in 1983, MCS has become a recognised authority on marine and coastal conservation and is regularly consulted by Government for its views on a range of marine issues including fishing. MCS provides information and guidance on many aspects of marine conservation and produces the annual Good Beach Guide, as well as promoting public participation in volunteer projects and surveys such as Adopt-a-Beach, Seasearch and Basking Shark Watch. A dedicated MCS Scottish Officer based in Edinburgh promotes and coordinates the above MCS conservation projects as well as coordinating Seasearch, a project for divers to record seabed life, throughout Scotland.

2, There are seven species of marine turtle swimming the world’s oceans and five species have been recorded in UK and Irish waters. Of these, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) lists the hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) and leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) turtles as critically endangered. The green (Chelonia mydas) and loggerhead (Caretta caretta) turtles are listed as endangered. The leatherback turtle is the largest species, and the largest turtle ever recorded, a male leatherback, washed up in Harlech, North Wales in 1988. The turtle weighed 916kg and measured 2.91m in length.

3, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) is the Scottish Executive’s statutory advisor on the conservation, enhancement, enjoyment, understanding and sustainable use of the Scotland’s natural heritage. It played a leading role in the development of the UK Grouped Species Action Plan for Marine Turtles (see below).

4, MCS is the a joint lead partner and SNH the contact agency for the UK Grouped Species Action Plan for Marine Turtles in UK waters and the UK Overseas Territories (www.ukbap.org.uk). The Action Plan prioritises the conservation of leatherback turtles in UK waters and is implemented by a coalition of organisations, government agencies and academic institutions known as the Turtle Implementation Group (TIG). As a contribution to the Action Plan, MCS is a carrying out various programmes to investigate the various marine environmental factors that influence the seasonal distribution of leatherback turtles while they visit UK waters.

5, Scottish Fisheries Museum, Anstruther, tel: 01333 310628, Eyemouth Fishermen’s Mission, tel: 018907 51313

6, Leatherback turtles are largely pelagic and feed almost exclusively on jellyfish. Analyses of stomach contents of dead leatherbacks stranded on UK shores have revealed that while in UK waters they feed on Cyanea capillata (Lion’s mane jellyfish), Cyanea lamarckii (Blue jellyfish), Rhizostoma octopus (Barrel or Root mouth jellyfish), Aurelia aurita (Moon jellyfish), Pelagia noctiluca (Mauve stinger) and Chrysaora hysoscella (Compass jellyfish) and some other soft-bodied marine creatures. They will also eat marine litter, such as plastic bags and latex balloons, by mistake. Turtles cannot digest plastic or latex, which, if ingested, will block a turtles gut and lead to death by starvation.