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The green sea turtle is listed as endangered by the IUCN Redlist
and the U.S. Endangered Species Act and is protected from trade
under CITES Appendix II. There were once several million green
sea turtles worldwide. Today, fewer than 200,000 nesting females
are thought to remain. This decline has occurred for several reasons.
Sea turtles have long been hunted for a variety of uses. Their
shells have been used to make jewelry and ornaments, their skin
for small leather goods, their meat and eggs for food, and their
fat for oil. Recently, the number of turtles taken has increased
dramatically due to the opportunity for profit through commercial
trade.
Before protective laws such as the Federal Endangered Species
Act, turtles were killed in large numbers to feed fishing crews
and provide meat for restaurants. Populations experienced dramatic
declines as a result. Because sea turtles take so many years to
reach sexual maturity, it has taken 20 years since the passing
of the Endangered Species Act to see any evidence of a population
recovery.
Their natural habits also make sea turtles vulnerable to hunters.
Because they lay their eggs in such a predictable way and are
defenseless on land, poachers continue to kill hundreds of sea
turtles each year for their eggs, shells and meat, despite laws
prohibiting these activities.
Another important cause of sea turtle death is incidental (or
non-deliberate) catch in fishing gear. Commercial shrimp fishers
use nets that trap and drown more than 10,000 sea turtles each
year. In addition, thousands of sea turtles become entangled in
longlines, driftnets, coastal gill nets and other discarded fishing
gear each year. Sea turtle nesting beaches are also lost each
year to coastal development, leaving the females without a familiar
place to lay their eggs. Pollution and degradation of their marine
habitat also threaten the turtle's survival.
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