THE GLOBALTORTOISESHELL TRADE
April 2020

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
At the heart of our work is the critically endangered
hawksbill sea turtle, at risk of extinction due to thedemand for its beautiful shell.
Our mission at Too Rare To Wear is to end thedemand for hawksbill products by collaboratingwith conservation organizations and the tourism
industry to inform travelers of the plight of thehawksbill and to educate them on how to identify
and avoid hawksbill products when travelingabroad.
We would like to thank the 150+ members of ourcoalition, including tour operators, conservation
organizations, and others who are helping us reachtravelers and the general public around the world.
We would also like to thank all of the experts who
contributed to the research, including those who
helped with our 2017 report Endangered
Souvenirs,
and those who contributed to this report. A full listof contributors can be found on page 83.

AUTHORS
Brad Nahill, Paula von Weller,& Hector Barrios-Garrido

EDITED BY
Emma Harrison

EDITED BY
Christine Wildermann

DONORS

Executive Summary .........................................................................

5

Global Map ........................................................................................

8

Timeline of the Tortoiseshell Trade ...............................................		

10

Introduction ......................................................................................

12

Hawksbill Status ...............................................................................

14

Country Reports ...............................................................................

17

Online Trade .....................................................................................

71

Appendix ..............................................................................................

77· Resources .............................................................................

77		

Nature’s Path / EnviroKidz
Endangered Species Chocolate
Viaventure
April Fund

Photo Credits: Julie Suess- Turtleshell Guide ......................................................

77· Bibliography .........................................................................

81· Contributors .........................................................................

83

COUNTRIES PROFILED IN THIS REPORTEXECUTIVE SUMMARY

CENTRAL AMERICA:NORTH AMERICA:

OCEANIA:· Nicaragua· Costa Rica
· Honduras· El Salvador· Belize· Panama· Guatemala· United States· Mexico· Solomon Islands· Papua New Guinea· Palau· Tonga

Estimates of adult female hawksbills remaining worldwide range from 15,000-25,000 and it is classified as‘Critically Endangered’ throughout its range by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Recent research by the Monterey Bay Aquarium estimated a total of nine million hawksbills exported
during the international trade from the mid-1800’s to the late 1900’s, making this trade the biggest
reason for their decline. The legal international trade ended in 1992 when Japan dropped their exception
under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) but
the illegal trade continues in many countries nearly 30 years later.

CARIBBEAN:· Cuba· Haiti· Grenada· Dominican Republic· Trinidad / Tobago

SOUTH AMERICA:· Colombia· Venezuela· Ecuador· PeruASIA:· China 				· Indonesia 			· Viet Nam· Japan· Malaysia· Philippines· Cambodia· Singapore· Taiwan· Laos· Thailand

AFRICA:· Mozambique 			· Madagascar· Zanzibar· Egypt· Tanzania· Seychelles· Angola

Synthesizing new research in eight countries with recent reports by Too Rare To Wear, CITES, and others,
this report takes the first global look at this trade in decades with information on the trade in nearly 50
countries. Our findings include ten countries that still have a significant domestic trade, thirty countries
that have a minor domestic trade, and seven countries where more research is required.
Over the past three years, through the combined research cited in this report, an estimated 46,448
individual tortoiseshell products have been counted for sale in person and online. Evidence suggeststhat the online trade is growing and, in some countries, may exceed in-person sales. In addition, though
the research is difficult to compare over time, the domestic trade appears to be declining in at least fivecountries.

KEY:
A(

): Additional research

Too Rare To Wear is a coalition of more than 150 conservation organizations and tourism companies
working to end demand for tortoiseshell products. We conduct research into the trade, educate travelers
how to recognize and avoid these products, and work to create new tools to support enforcement
and outreach. Too Rare To Wear is a campaign of SEE Turtles, a non-profit sea turtle conservation

recommended
N ( ): New unpublishedresearch
M ( ): Minor / anecdotal sales
L ( ): Legal domestic market

At least 40 countries where the trade still exists. Since 2017,
17,075 turtle products have been sold in stores.
New research on the trade completed in 7 countries
Gaps in knowledge on this trade remain in at least 7 countries
The online trade in this products may now surpass the in-person
trade with more than 25,000 pieces for sale identiﬁed. Since 2017,
29,373 turtle products have been sold online.
The trade appears to be declining in at least ﬁve countries, showingthat advocacy and enforcement can eﬀectively reduce this trade

Photo Credits: RP Van Dam

45

COUNTRY# OF PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017

Nicaragua

9,295

Colombia

4,325

Costa Rica

1,092

Panamá

656

Indonesia

424

El Salvador

372

Mozambique

200

Viet Nam

199

Cuba

194

Grenada108

Honduras

47

Zanzibar

45

Guatemala36

Belize26

Venezuela

21

Tobago20

Dominican Republic

15

TOTAL

17,075

ONLINE SALES# OF PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017

Indonesia

29,326

Latin America

47

TOTAL

29,37367

89

45~AD
Julius Caeser held
warehouses ofTortoiseshell in Alexandria

IX
Traded by Arabs
throughout the
Indian Ocean

15001700’s
Tortoiseshell trade expands
globally driven by European
Colonization and trade by
Portugal, France, England& the Netherlands

1700’sJapan’s bekko
artisans establishedin Nagasaki

18001900’s
Trade inCentral America& Caribbean
intensiﬁes

1980
1987
1990
Japan reduces
quota to 18,870
turtles per year

Report by Milliken andTokunaga documents continued
trade between CITES countries
without proper documents

Japan joins CITES& takes exception
and reduces quota
to 28,300 turtles
per yearLate
70’s
45 countries trade
tortoiseshell, with Japan
importing an average of
37,700 turtles per year

1977
Hawksbills added toAppendix I of CITES

1975
Convention on International
Trade of Endangered Species(CITES) Treaty goes into force

1993
Japan establishes zero quota to
avoid an embargo by the US &Cuba reduces annual ﬁshery quota
from 5,000 to 500 in response

1997
1994
Japan drops CITES
reservation

Cuba proposes to sell
stockpile to Japan & continueinternational trade through
CITES, but the proposal failed

2000
1998
Seychelles &Zanzibar acquire
tortoiseshellstocks fromartisans
and burns them todemonstrate theircommitment toending the trade

Cuba proposes again to sell
stockpile to Japan & continueinternational trade through
CITES, but the proposal failed

2007
Cuba instates voluntary
moratorium on its hawksbill
ﬁshery, though the country
still maintains its reservation& stockpile

2019
Illegal tortoiseshell trade
continues in at least 40 countries
and the legal trade remains legal in
at least 4 countries or territories.

Sources: IUCN Red List & State of the World’s Turtles (SWOT)INTRODUCTIONHAWKSBILL STATUS

For millennia, the hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys
imbricata) has been a valuable commodity, prized
for the scutes which adorn its shell. The large
scales (or plates) covering the shell are richly
colored in a kaleidoscope of amber, gold, andbrown, which help camouflage the hawksbill in its
preferred coral reef habitat. When the scutes arepolished, an even richer color palette is revealed,
and they are used to create a variety of objects.
Before plastic was invented, hawksbill shell
was the preferred material for a huge range of
products due to its malleability, attractiveness, andavailability.

The hawksbill is one of the two most endangeredof sea turtle species. Estimates of adult female
hawksbills remaining worldwide range from15,000-25,000 and it is classified as ‘CriticallyEndangered’ throughout its range by the IUCN.
The IUCN Red List defines Critically Endangeredas ‘considered to be facing an extremely high riskof extinction in the wild’. Though some hawksbill
populations are increasing due to conservation
efforts (particularly in Mexico and Panama), anddespite international legal protections including
CITES and the Inter-American Convention for theProtection and Conservation Sea Turtles, hawksbill
populations continue to decline in many countries
due to the continuing demand for tortoiseshell
products.

The polished material is fashioned into various‘tortoiseshell’ items such as bracelets, rings, guitar
picks, combs, and other souvenirs and luxury
items. Whole stuffed (taxidermied) turtles arealso used as wall hangings in some countries. The
hawksbill is unique among the seven species ofsea turtles in that it is the primary one targeted
exclusively for its shell (though occasionallyproducts and whole carapaces of other species
are also sold, mostly being green turtles, Chelonia
mydas.)
Despite the availability of these same products
made from modern-day synthetic materials, thehawksbill continues to be harvested and traded
across international borders. The widespread andpersistent illegal trade of sea turtles is part of the
global war on wildlife. The trade of wildlife andtheir parts is estimated to be worth a staggering US$20 billion annually, the 4th most lucrative illegal
trade after drugs, human trafficking, and the arms
trade according to a 2012 report by WWF.
A 2019 study published by the Monterey Bay
Aquarium in ‘Science Advances’ titled “Thehistorical development of complex global
trafficking networks for marine wildlife,” reviewed
data from the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.
The researchers concluded that the previous
estimate of approximately 1.4 million hawksbills
exported to Japan between 1950 and 1992 wasa gross underestimate. Using information fromJapanese customs archives over a 150-year period
between 1844 and 1992, the authors estimate thatapproximately 9 million hawksbills were tradedglobally. They believe this figure could be lower
than the actual number due to information gaps in
the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Japan represented
roughly 80 percent of the worldwide importation ofhawksbill shells over this time.

them, sponges can overgrow corals and suffocate
reefs. Coral reefs provide a wide variety ofenvironmental services including aiding fisheries,
providing habitat for a wide variety of species,
protecting coastal communities from storms, andas economically important tourism attractions.
According to a report by the Costanza, et al (1997)
coral reefs generate an estimated $375 billion ineconomic benefits each year.

If the recent Monterey Bay Aquarium research isaccurate, it would reflect a much more dramatic
decline than the threshold of a 90 percent decreaseover three generations to qualify for criticallyendangered status. Note: it has been about 35
years since the reported end of the peak of thehawksbill trade, which is roughly the time it takes
this species to reach maturity. This fact could
explain some of the recent increases in nestingobserved at beaches in Mexico, Panama, andelsewhere.

The hawksbill has also been protected by the
CITES since 1981. CITES is an international
agreement between governments, referred
to as parties, that monitors the international
trade of species to ensure their survival is notthreatened by overexploitation. Hawksbills arelisted under Appendix 1, which includes species
that are threatened with extinction and are themost endangered of the CITES-listed species.
International trade in Appendix 1 species is
prohibited except in exceptional cases where
authorization is granted for scientific research.

Though harvest of the hawksbill for its shell
continues to be its greatest threat, it faces manyothers, such as habitat degradation and loss ofcoral reefs due to climate change impacts andocean acidification. Entanglement and ingestionof marine debris, loss of nesting habitat due tosea level rise and coastal development, offshore
drilling, and pollution are also obstacles to thehawksbill’s continued existence.

More than forty years after hawksbills were added
to CITES Appendix I, and twenty-five years after
Japan ended its exception in 1992, making theinternational trade fully illegal around the world,
the tortoiseshell trade continues to threaten thehawksbill sea turtle. The research highlighted inthis report shows the trade remains strong in atleast ten countries, still exists in at least anotherthirty countries, and that the domestic traderemains legal in at least three countries despite theclear threat to the species.

The decline of the hawksbill around the world has
had significant impacts on ocean ecosystems. It isestimated that one turtle can consume more than
1,000 pounds of sponges per year. By consuming
sponges, hawksbills play an important role in thereef community, facilitating coral growth; without
12

Photo Credits: Julie Suess

13

USE OF TORTOISESHELL PRODUCTS

METHODOLOGY & FORMAT

What the tortoiseshell trade looks like depends on which region and country it occurs in. The primary
use of hawksbill shell is to create souvenirs for travelers; in some countries international travelers are
the primary market (for example, Colombia) while in others, domestic travelers are the main consumers(for example, Indonesia and Nicaragua). A wide variety of tortoiseshell products are sold as souvenirs,
primarily jewelry such as earrings, bracelets, and necklaces. In some places like Viet Nam, the products
are believed to have medicinal properties.

This report pulls together new and recent (within
the past ten years) research on the tortoiseshelltrade around the world. The information wascollected from a wide variety of sources, including
new research funded by SEE Turtles / Too Rare To
Wear, past reports primarily the Too Rare To Wear
Report Endangered Souvenirs report (publishedin 2017) and the CITES study titled “Status, Scopeand Trends of the Legal and Illegal International
Trade in Marine Turtles, its Conservation Impacts,
Management Options, and Mitigation Priorities”(published in 2019). We also include personalcommunications from experts in the field andanecdotal information that includes personalcommunications from experts in the field, news
articles, and reports made through the Too Rare To
Wear website, among others.

In some places, the shell is fused with gold or other metals to make elaborate headwear. This is seenin Indonesia, where the island of Bali is known for these types of products, as well as in Panama, wherethese are traditionally used during Carnival celebrations. In some regions, primarily Latin America, alarge portion of the trade is for spurs for cockfighting, still a strong tradition in countries like Colombia
and Panama. Generally, the scutes are processed into specific products, though in some places they aresold as whole carapaces, often polished to a shine and sold as decorations (specifically Haiti, Viet Nam,and China).

HAWKSBILL DISTRIBUTION MAP

Each section that contains information from thetwo primary reports will be entitled “Endangered
Souvenirs (2017)” or “CITES (2019).” For historicalreference and additional context, we also include
data from older reports, going back to 2002, someof the primary trading countries profiled in thisMap Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hawksbill_turtle_range_map.png

1415

report. In addition, in the anecdotal section foreach country, we include historical data on the
tortoiseshell trade for profiled countries from theMonterey Bay Aquarium study going back to thelate 1800’s and data from the US Fish & Wildlife on
seizure of tortoiseshell products coming into theUnited States between 2007 to 2017.
Language is either taken directly from thesereports or paraphrased, as appropriate and eachsource is noted. In some cases, information was
summarized and text edited lightly to be consistentin terms of terminology (for example, turtleshellvs tortoiseshell or marine turtle vs sea turtle) or
grammar. Each country section has either been
written by or reviewed by local experts to ensure
accuracy wherever possible. A complete list ofcontributors and a bibliography can be found in
the appendices. Countries are ordered in eachgeographical section from largest trading toanecdotal and each country we included a list oforganizations working on reducing the tortoiseshelltrade that we are aware of, though this list should
not be considered exhaustive.

Photo Credits: RP Van Dam (Left), Hal Brindley (Right)

15

COUNTRY REPORTS: CENTRAL AMERICANICARAGUALEGAL STATUS: Illegal to sell or buy turtle products.
PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017: 9,295· 2,205 Counted in 2020
· 7,090 Counted in 2017

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE TRADE::· Fauna & Flora International· SOS Nicaragua· Paso PacíficoMOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE: 2020

CITES (2019)

Past studies have shown Nicaragua to be the top hotspot for tortoiseshell product sales in the America’s,
and likely one of the top in the world, with estimates of souvenir shops selling these products ranging
from 69 to more than 90 percent.

Researchers conducted visits to local markets andstreet vendors in several parts of the country in
May 2018, though no overall statistics were madeavailable.

Too Rare To Wear completed a rapid survey in January 2020 at the two markets historically shown to be
the biggest points for this trade in the country, the Masaya tourist market and the Roberto Huembes
Market in Managua. Each market was visited once to count the number of shops selling tortoiseshell
products. Photographs were taken at each shop to estimate the total number of items for sale. At theMasaya market, 32 of 78 shops were selling tortoiseshell (41 percent) and a estimated total of 1,325
products, including 300 pairs of earrings, 650 bracelets, 350 rings, 18 necklaces, and 7 hair clips. At
Huembes, 13 of 25 shops visited (52 percent) had tortoiseshell items and an estimated 880 products
were counted, including 270 pairs of earrings, 520 bracelets, 60 rings, and 30 necklaces. A total of 103
souvenir shops were visited, with 45 selling tortoiseshell (44 percent), with approximately 2,250 products
counted.

Observations of tortoiseshell sold in Nicaragua
during the survey were:• In Bilwi (on the Caribbean coast) hawksbill rings
are sold at US $1.20 while thick bracelets cost
US $6.30. Obtained revenue by a vendor ranges
from US $310 - 380. According to interviews, elder
artisans no longer make hawksbill products as theyused to do in the past because pieces like necklaces can no longer be easily sold. Now they make crafts
combining PVC (a plastic polymer) and plastics of striking colors, adding insertions of tortoiseshell andgold to their creations.

These counts should be considered as very conservative estimates, as not all products could be counted
directly due to photo quality and ability to capture all the products in a single image. In addition, somestores were missed at the Huembes market due to lack of time. Several shops at the airport also had
tortoiseshell for sale, which is especially concerning since the products are illegal to cross borders with.
Due to time restrictions, we were not able to estimate total numbers of shops or products at the airport,though the products were primarily found outside of security.

• In Bluefields (also on the Caribbean coast), a store was found where hawksbill products with gold aresold from US $5.70 - 25. Interviews suggested that stored raw hawksbill material is being sold for US$12.70 a pound in Bluefields and Corn Island. This raw material is transported to Pearl Cays where a final
price is negotiated before it is shipped to San Andres Island, Colombia.

Because of the rapid nature of this assessment, we do not believe that these numbers represent a dropin the trade compared to the 2017 data below. Two factors may be affecting the numbers, primarily at
the Masaya market, both related to the current political situation in the country. One is that tourism tothe country has dropped precipitously compared to 2017 due to the protests and violence though thesector appears to be returning somewhat as of 2019 so there are fewer customers going to souvenir
markets. The other factor is that the Masaya market was burned and looted in May 2018 and many, if not
all of the shops were rebuilt and restocked.

• In Roberto Huembes Market, the largest handicraft retailer in Managua, it is common to find shelveswith various tortoiseshell items displayed, from simple rings to bracelets, earrings, and headbands. In avisit to Managua International Airport, hawksbill products were also seen for sale to tourists.

16

Photo Credits: Alison Gunn, Fauna & Flora Internationall

17

ENDANGERED SOUVENIRS (2017)Managua, and in a shop in a mall in Managua according to a personal observation by Cynthia Lagueux,
formerly of Wildlife Conservation Society.

Sixteen different coastal and inland towns and areas were surveyed by local organizations SOS
Nicaragua, Fauna and Flora International, Paso Pacifico, and Universidad Nacional de Nicaragua –Managua. From these surveys, Nicaragua clearly displayed the most prolific and widespread availabilityof hawksbill products.

DIAGNOSTICO SOBRE EL COMERCIO DE LAS TORTUGAS MARINAS Y SU DERIVADOSEN EL ISTMO CENTROAMERICANO (2002)
Investigators from Red de Tortugas Marinas de Centroamerica (RCA) documented 21 permanentestablishments and three travelling merchants selling hawksbill shell products and counted 597 pieces
at 11 sites where they were able to undertake an inventory. A subsequent visit to three of these sites
counted a total of 4,085 hawksbill articles. One of the travelling merchants indicated that some of thehawksbill shell is sent for resale in Managua. Most commonly, the establishments selling shell products
were those that sold handicrafts. The majority of merchants identified shell articles as important sales
items, a major source of income, and the product that sold most. Further, the vast majority of merchantsinterviewed indicated that the shell came from the Caribbean coast of the country.

Items were encountered at 14 of the 16 tourist destinations surveyed (87.5 percent). In these
destinations, surveyors visited a total of 165 different locations and hawksbill merchandise was reported
at 114 (69.1 percent) of them, including souvenir shops, temporary street vendors, and permanentmarkets. As many as 385 items were found at individual shops; some stores with a large inventory ofstock often acted as the local distributor, providing articles to neighboring locations.
Surveyors recorded a total of 7,090 tortoiseshell items. At some locations it was not possible to make anaccurate count, so this figure should be viewed as a minimum number. Nicaragua accounted for 81.5
percent of the total number of hawksbill items estimated for the entire survey of eight countries (notincluding Colombia), with a staggering 2,746 and 2,841 items recorded in Managua and Masaya alone
which respectively equates to 31.6 percent and 32.7 percent of the total number of products found in theentire survey.

ANECDOTAL INFORMATION:• During our online research, one listing for three bracelets was found on Facebook at a cost of 70
cordobas (US $2). See the Online Trade section on page 71 for more information. In addition, two
shipments of hawksbill products from Nicaragua to the US were confiscated by US authorities in between
2007 and 2017, which included a total of 111 items including jewelry and shells.

Hawksbill items found in Nicaragua had an estimated value of US $18,386 (again this figure should beseen as a minimum as it was not possible to attain price information from vendors at some locations).
The prices in Nicaragua appeared to be significantly lower than in other Central America countries
included in the survey; a bracelet was offered for just US $0.34 in Managua and other small jewelry
pieces were frequently being sold across the country for less than US $2. Even the most expensive item
was only valued at US $15; this was a large necklace for sale on Corn Island on the Caribbean coast.

• According to data from Japanese imports in the Monterey Bay Aquarium study, Nicaragua exported
15,883 kilos of tortoiseshell (34,942 lbs) to Japan between 1957 and 1985.

PREVIOUS STUDIESThe domestic tortoiseshell trade was assessed in
2011-2012 by FFI and in 2002 by the Red Regionalpara la Conservacion de las Tortugas Marinas(RCA). Both surveys showed that Nicaragua isa major location for the trade in tortoiseshell
products, with more than 4,000 items identified
in 2002 and over 16,000 items recorded in the
2011-2012 survey. The FFI survey listed 139 places
selling tortoiseshell out of 153 visited, equating toapproximately 91 percent of shops.

TURNING THE TIDE: EXPLOITATION, TRADE AND MANAGEMENT OF MARINE TURTLES
IN THE LESSER ANTILLES, CENTRAL AMERICA, COLOMBIA AND VENEZUELA (2006)
Articles from hawksbill shell were found for sale in the major markets across the country and in areas
visited frequently by tourists, either national or foreign. They were also found in the Puerto Cabezas
airport. They have also been observed in Bluefields airport, the secure area of the international airport inPhoto Credits: Alison Gunn, Fauna & Flora International

18

Photo Credits: Brad Nahill/SEE Turtles

19

COSTA RICALEGAL STATUS: Illegal to sell or buy turtle products.
PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017: 1,092

In our online research, Costa Rica was the leading country for online sales of tortoiseshell products,
primarily cockfighting spurs being sold on Facebook; over a two-month period in 2019 13 advertisements
for these products were found. See the Online Trade section on page 71 for more information.

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE TRADE::

Costa Rica historically was a significant market for the tortoiseshell trade, with data from 2002 (noted
below) reporting that 70 percent of 54 shops visited selling these products at the time. More recent
data appears to indicate a major decline in this market in the country, with about 20 percent of shops
found in 2017 and under 7 percent in the most recent survey noted below. While this is not definitive
proof of a decline, as neither of the most recent surveys are comprehensive, the data indicates that thetrade in Costa Rica is much reduced from previous levels due to increased law enforcement and public· Latin American Sea Turtles

MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE:
2019 (Latin American Sea Turtles, unpublished)

ENDANGERED SOUVENIRS (2017)

Latin American Sea Turtles (LAST), with financial support from Too Rare To Wear, surveyed a total of
91 shops in 13 sites from October 2018 to September 2019; four in the Pacific provinces of Puntarenas
and Guanacaste (Puntarenas, Jacó, Liberia and Playas del Coco), two on the Caribbean coast (Limónand Puerto Viejo), and five in the central provinces (Alajuela, Fortuna, Heredia, Cartago and Turrialba).
Hawksbill products were identified at two towns in the province of Puntarenas (Puntarenas and Jacó).

Eight different coastal sites were surveyed by the organizations LAST, Equipo Tora Carey, and Global
Vision International; six on the Pacific (Jacó, Manuel Antonio, Playa del Coco, Puntarenas, Quepos andTarcoles) and two on the Caribbean (Limón and Tortuguero). Hawksbill products were identified at foursites, on both coasts (Jacó, Puntarenas, Limón and Tortuguero). A total of 72 locations were surveyed,
including souvenir shops, markets and street vendors; 15 (20.8 percent) stores had hawksbill products
for sale. Surveyors estimated a total of 949 items, with some stores selling just one or two small pieces,
up to a maximum of 462 items in one store in Puntarenas.

LAST visited souvenir shops, markets, and street vendors; of 91 visited, six (6.6 percent) had hawksbill
products for sale. Surveyors estimated a total of 143 items, with some places selling just one or two small
pieces, up to a maximum of 109 items in one store in Puntarenas. The combined minimum estimatedvalue of the 143 items was US $514, with individual items ranging in price from under US $4 to US $20 forrings, pendants, and bracelets of varying quality and size.

The combined minimum estimated value of the 949 items was US $4,604, with individual items ranging inprice from under US $4 to US $90 for rings of varying quality and size. Interestingly, the primary intended
market for hawksbill products varied between the different sites; Jacó and Tortuguero vendors werecatering predominantly to international tourists, while vendors in Limón stated that they mainly sold to
Costa Rican nationals. Puntarenas, the city with the greatest abundance of hawksbill products for salein the country (833 of the 949 items - 88 percent - were reported there) had a mixed market, with bothnational and international tourists (mainly from cruise ships) purchasing items

This current study supports the findings of previous surveys where Puntarenas remains the site with thegreatest abundance of hawksbill products for sale in the country (140 of the 143 items - 98 percent - werereported there). The vendor with the most tortoiseshell items stated that his main market is local people
from Puntarenas, who buy those items as part of their culture. Vendors admitted that the products theysell were made from hawksbill shell and they all knew that the material comes from a sea turtle. They
also were aware that it is illegal to sell hawksbill items and yet they continue to do so openly in theirstores. None of the vendors stated that the sale of hawksbill merchandise was their main source ofincome, because most of them just had a couple of items in their store.

PREVIOUS STUDIESDIAGNOSTICO SOBRE EL COMERCIO DE LAS TORTUGAS MARINAS Y SU DERIVADOSEN EL ISTMO CENTROAMERICANO (2002)

One of the vendors in Puntarenas told the surveyors that she was going to stop selling tortoiseshell
products because her only provider lived in Limón (Caribbean) and he died recently. There appears
to have been a significant decrease in the amount of hawksbill merchandise available in comparison
to surveys during the last two years. Nevertheless, this illegal market might be evolving or adopting
alternative ways to sell unnoticed. For example, vendors and store owners in Limón and Puerto Viejo
reported that tortoiseshell products are still being sold but only to locals and nationals inside houses andnot in public. The sellers stated that international tourists didn’t like to buy tortoiseshell products andhaving them in the store could damage their reputation and their sales.

Investigators from Red de Tortugas Marinas de Centroamerica (RCA) reported 38 of 54 stores visited wereselling tortoiseshell products (70 percent) and more than 2,100 tortoiseshell items were identified.

It also appears that a significant part of illegal sales of tortoiseshell items is moving to popular social
media like Facebook and Instagram, among others. In one year of social media scanning for tortoiseshell
products, LAST and Too Rare To Wear have found and reported to the company a total of 61 links, one
from Instagram and the rest from Facebook, from around the region. The products on sale were mainly
spurs for cockfights, as well as jewelry, mostly bracelets and rings.

20

21

ANECDOTAL INFORMATIONHONDURASLEGAL STATUS: Illegal to sell or trade turtle products.

• According to the media outlet El Siglo, based in Panama, a Costa Rican citizen was detained at theborder with Panama carrying 15 hawksbill scutes in January of 2019. According to authorities, the person
had obtained the scutes in the city of David and was attempting to bring them into Costa Rica. link

PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017: 47• According to a press release from SINAC (the National System of Conservation Areas) and MINAE(the Ministry of the Environment and Energy) in May 2017, more than 800 tortoiseshell products wereconfiscated in Puntarenas. These products included rings, bracelets and earrings with a total estimatedvalue of approximately US $4,400.

MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE:• During our online research, 12 listings for tortoiseshell were found in Costa Rica though it was not clear
how many products were available for sale. The items were primarily bracelets and rings, as well as abrush and a necklace. See the Online Trade section on page 71 for more information.

ENDANGERED SOUVENIRS (2017)

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE TRADE::· ProTECTOR

2017 (Endangered Souvenirs)

Conservation organization Protective Turtle Ecology Center for Training, Outreach, and Research, Inc.
(ProTECTOR, Inc.) conducted surveys at a total of 38 souvenir stores in three sites in Honduras; La Ceiba,
Tegucigalpa, and Valle de Angeles. Hawksbill products were observed for sale at 23 of these locations(60.5 percent). Unfortunately, surveyors were not able to estimate the number of items available orassess their total value. In contrast to other countries, the majority of vendors (73 percent) were unawarethat it was illegal to sell hawksbill items, despite national laws in place that prohibit the commercializationof tortoiseshell products.

• According to data from Japanese imports in the Monterey Bay Aquarium study, Costa Rica exported
8,192 kilos of tortoiseshell (18,022 lbs) to Japan between 1951 and 1983.

Although not all vendors had exactly the same range of merchandise available, they were able toprovide basic information about the number of items they sold each week. Locations selling tortoiseshell
reported an average of five pairs of earrings, three bracelets, five rings, and four necklaces per store.
Items varied in price from US $2.12 (earrings) to US $11.89 (necklace) and it was possible to estimate thatthe average weekly income for vendors from the sale of hawksbill items was approximately US $78.

PREVIOUS STUDIESDIAGNOSTICO SOBRE EL COMERCIODE LAS TORTUGAS MARINASY SU DERIVADOS EN EL ISTMOCENTROAMERICANO (2002)
In the RCA regional assessment, surveyors visited
29 shops in five sites, finding an estimated 590
items at 27 of the shops (93 percent). The townof Tela was reportedly the origin of the products,
though this site was not visited during the current
survey.

22

Photo Credits: ProTECTOR

23

ANECDOTAL INFORMATIONMINOR / ANECDOTAL INFORMATIONPANAMA• In August 2019, El Heraldo newspaper in Honduras reported that nine fishermen were caught with two
hawksbills in captivity, among other illegal species. It was not clear what the intentions were with thehawksbills. (link)

LEGAL STATUS: Illegal to sell or trade turtle products.

• LAST reported in October 2018 a store in Valle del Angel selling tortoiseshell products. At least 45
products were identified from a photo provided, including earrings, rings and necklaces. Prices ranged
from US $2 (rings) to US $7 (necklaces).

PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017: 656
MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE:• According to data from Japanese imports in the Monterey Bay Aquarium study, Honduras exported
10,109 kilos of tortoiseshell (22,239 lbs) to Japan between 1956 and 1985.

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE TRADE::· Panatortugas· Sea Turtle Conservancy

2019 (Panatortugas, unpublished)

According to recent surveys and Panamanian conservationists, Panama does not appear to be a major
hotspot for sales of tortoiseshell products. Items are primarily limited to cockfighting spurs sold in a few
locations, as well as “polleras,” decorative headdresses used for special occasions. Panama does appear
to continue to be a major source for hawksbill shells, primarily from the Bocas del Toro and San Blas
regions of the country. The online trade appears to be strong as well, primarily focused on cockfighting
spurs.
In 2018, Margaret von Saenger of Panatortugas spotted six jewelry stores inside a mall in Panama City
that were openly selling pollera jewelry. On February 25, she reported these sales to the Ministry ofEnvironment (MiAMBIENTE), the government agency responsible for enforcing this trade. In May of 2019,
Ministry officials raided the stores, confiscating an estimated 200 pieces of jewelry from the six shops(Link).
Panama was the second leading country for online sales in our research with nine advertisements foundover two months in 2019. These sales were primarily cockfighting spurs sold on Facebook. See the Online
Trade section on page 71 for more information.

CITES (2019)
In addition to meat and eggs, there is a trade in hawksbill carapace and tortoiseshell handicrafts inPanama. The main provinces where these are sourced are the provinces of Bocas del Toro and Comarca
Kuna Yala. Evidence suggests that hawksbill carapaces sourced from Comarca Kuna Yala and Bocas delToro may be exported to other provinces in Panama or exported to Colombia, Costa Rica, or Mexico.

ENDANGERED SOUVENIRS (2017)
In Panama, one site was surveyed, Bocas del Toro town, on the Caribbean coast. Sea Turtle Conservancy
staff visited nine shops and only one store (11.1 percent) had hawksbill items for sale. A total of 48 pieces
of jewelry were recorded, with an estimated total value of US $605. Individual items ranged in price from
US $3 for rings to US $25 for large bracelets. The vendor selling the tortoiseshell products knew that they
were hawksbill and that it is illegal to sell such items.
Photo Credits: Protector

24

25

PREVIOUS STUDIESBELIZEDIAGNOSTICO SOBRE EL COMERCIODE LAS TORTUGAS MARINASY SU DERIVADOS EN EL ISTMOCENTROAMERICANO (2002)

LEGAL STATUS: Illegal to sell or buy turtle products.
PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017: 26

The 2002 RCA assessment identified 16 vendors infive sites across the country, primarily in the Bocas
del Toro area. More than 400 pieces were found atthese shops.

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE TRADE::· EcoMarMOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE:
2019 (EcoMar, unpublished)

EcoMar, a Belizean conservation organization,
conducted a survey of 121 shops and markets infour parts of the country (Belize City, Placencia, San
Ignacio, and San Pedro) between September andOctober 2019. A total of 26 tortoiseshell products
were found at five shops (4 percent), which wereprimarily earrings (18 pairs), followed by guitar
picks (4), combs (2), bracelets (1), and pendants (1).

ANECDOTAL INFORMATION• Researchers including Dr. Jeffrey Seminoff of the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA), a US government agency, worked with Panamanian wildlife conservation authorities to analyze
stable isotopes of confiscated tortoiseshell samples of cockfighting spurs. The purpose of the research
was to determine where the hawksbills that were being hunted for these products originated. The
majority of samples (69 out of 77) were determined to be of Atlantic / Caribbean origin, while eightsamples came from the Pacific.

Three of the five shops selling tortoiseshell
products were in Belize City and the remaining
two were in Placencia. Researchers noted that
future surveys need to be completed during peak
tourist season to observe more shops when agreater variety of products are for sale have been
witnessed.

• LAST reported that a batch of tortoiseshell cockfighting spurs were found and confiscated at the
Panama City Airport in December 2018. From a photo provided by LAST, at least 408 spurs were counted.
• During our online research, there were nine listings of tortoiseshell products for sale in the country.
These products were exclusively cockfighting spurs which ranged from US $70 to $200 for a set. See theOnline Trade section on page 71 for more information.

No online sales were found in Belize in our
research. See the Online Trade section on page 71
for more information.

• According to data from Japanese imports in the Monterey Bay Aquarium study, Panama was one of
the leading countries exporting tortoiseshell to Japan. Records show 206,067 kilos (453,347 lbs) exported
between 1952 and 1985.

ENDANGERED SOUVENIRS (2017)
Three different sites were surveyed by the Oceanic Society; Belize City, San Pedro, and Belize City
international airport. A total of 47 locations were visited, including a tourist village and permanentmarkets, with a minimum of seven locations surveyed at each site. Belize was the only country where no
hawksbill products were observed at any location, though a small number of guitar picks for sale by avendor at a market in San Ignacio were observed by SEE Turtles staff in 2017.

Photo Credits: Panatortugas

26

Photo Credits: Ecomar

27

MINOR / ANECDOTAL INFORMATIONPREVIOUS STUDIESDIAGNOSTICO SOBRE EL COMERCIO DE LAS TORTUGAS MARINAS Y SU DERIVADOSEN EL ISTMO CENTROAMERICANO (2002)

GUATEMALALEGAL STATUS: Illegal to sell or buy turtle products.

In the RCA assessment, seven sites were visited in Belize and tortoiseshell was observed for sale at justtwo of approximately 80 places visited (2.5 percent).

PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017: 36

ANECDOTAL INFORMATIONLOCAL ORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE TRADE::
None that we are aware of

MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE: 2019 (anecdotal)• According to data from Japanese imports in the Monterey Bay Aquarium study, Belize exported 7,174
kilos of tortoiseshell (15,782 lbs) to Japan between 1956 and 1986.

Guatemala was not assessed in Endangered Souvenirs (2017) based on communication from Colum
Muccio of ARCAS who had done a country survey for turtle products and did not find any tortoiseshell.
However, Too Rare To Wear has received two separate reports (Iisted below) of these products for sale,
which we believe warrants additional investigation.

• There have been reports to EcoMar of products being sold in San Pedro, Hopkins, and the Cayo Market,
as well as a reported black market in Caye Caulker, though the reports were not confirmed in the mostrecent survey.

• Didiher Chacon of LAST reported a store in Antigua selling tortoiseshell products to Too Rare To Wearin January 2019. A photograph showed at least 22 products for sale, including bracelets, necklaces, andearrings.
• In addition, Linda Searle of EcoMar (Belize) reported tortoiseshell products for sale in the city of
Livingston in June 2017. From photographs, there were at least 14 products for sale, including two full
carapaces and bracelets.

28

Photo Credits: Ecomar

29

ANECDOTAL INFORMATIONCOUNTRY REPORTS: CARIBBEAN• Too Rare To Wear received a report through our website that tortoiseshell products were being soldin the Museum of the Revolution in Havana (January 2019). The items were confirmed by photo andincluded bracelets and earrings.

CUBA
LEGAL STATUS: Illegal to sell or buy turtle products.
PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017: 194
MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE:LOCALORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE
TRADE::• Too Rare To Wear received a tip from Linda Searle of EcoMar (Belize) in March 2019 that products werebeing sold in Camaquey. Both this location and the one above were reported to Cuban authorities.
• Since hawksbills were included on Appendix I of CITES, Cuba has maintained a stockpile of hawksbill
shells in case the market reopened (though several attempts by Cuba and Japan to allow the sale of theseshells have not been successful). In 2002, a report by the Species Survival Network reported the stockpile
to be 7.8 tons, though more recent information is not available.

· InSTEC

2019 (Instituto Superior de Tecnologías y Ciencias Aplicadas (InSTEC)
unpublished)• According to data from Japanese imports in the Monterey Bay Aquarium study, Cuba was one of the largest
exporters of tortoiseshell to Japan. The country was recorded to have sent 173,109 kilos of tortoiseshell (380,840 lbs)
between 1936 and 1992.

In a 2019 survey led by Dr. Julia Azanza of the Instituto Superior de Tecnologías y Ciencias Aplicadas(InSTEC, in English, the Higher Institute of Technologies and Applied Sciences), a Cuban educational
institution, volunteers visited 29 shops and found tortoiseshell products in three (10 percent). A total of
63 items were found, which consisted primarily of bracelets (36), rings (10), earrings (10 pairs), combs (4),fans (2), and a sculpture. This most recent data appears to show a decline in tortoiseshell sales, at leastin Havana. Dr. Azanza attributes this to increased attention by government officials and a reduction indemand by Cuban citizens.

• Between 2007 and 2017, a total of three seizures of three entire hawksbills coming into the US werereported by the US Fish & Wildlife Service.
• As noted in the section on Venezuela (on page 41), researchers also believe that tortoiseshell has been
illegally exported from Cuba to Venezuela. However, this trade has not been proven and it is unclear
whether it occurred in the past or is ongoing.

ENDANGERED SOUVENIRS (2017)
Surveys were conducted in Havana by volunteers from InSTEC. In 2016, hawksbill artifacts were reported
at nine (47.4 percent) of the 19 stores and markets visited. There were vendors who stated that they did
not have any hawksbill items ‘at the moment’, so presumably would normally have them available. A
total of 131 items were identified, with an estimated value of US $3,285. Some items could not be priced,
so this estimate should be seen as a minimum value. In addition to the more common jewelry items,
surveyors also encountered several larger, more intricate (and more valuable) products such as fans andlarge hair combs, which were on sale for up to US $200. Vendors indicated that the primary market for
tortoiseshell items were tourists, mainly Cuban-Americans.

PREVIOUS STUDIESVIAJERAS EN PELIGRO (PROTORTUGAS/WWF CUBA, 2014)
WWF Cuba visited 42 souvenir shops looking for tortoiseshell items for sale in the cities of Havana (26),Trinidad (10), Camaguey (2), Santiago de Cuba (3), and Baracoa (1). No specific figures were provided but
the articles ranged in price from 2 to 50 CUC for the smaller items and 50 to 200 CUC for larger items likethe fans (1 CUC equals US $1).

30

31

GRENADALEGAL STATUS: Legal to sell turtle products.
PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017: 108

HAITI
LOCAL ORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE TRADE::· Ocean Spirits

MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE:2017 (Endangered Souvenirs)

ENDANGERED SOUVENIRS (2017)
In Grenada, nine sites across the island were surveyed by staff from Ocean Spirits Inc.: Belmont, Calivigny,
Concord, Grand Anse, Grand Etang, Hillsborough, Paradise Beach, Port Louis, and St George. Three ofthese sites (33.3 percent) had hawksbill products for sale – Concord, Grand Anse, and Hillsborough. Of
the 46 souvenir stores and street vendors surveyed, seven (15.2 percent) had hawksbill items for sale.
In one store in Port Louis, the merchandise was displayed on pieces of hawksbill shell and bones;
however, the vendor told surveyors that they were not for sale. A total of 108 items were recorded, withan estimated total value of US $1,862. In general, prices were higher in Grenada than the other countries
surveyed; rings and guitar picks were on sale for around US $9, compared to less than US $2 elsewhere.
Furthermore, Grenada was the only country where whole hawksbill carapaces were observed for sale,with a retail cost of around US $200.

LEGAL STATUS:Legal to sell or purchase turtle products.
PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017: Not available

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE TRADE::· Haiti Ocean Project

MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE:
2019 (Haiti Ocean Project, unpublished)

Supported by Too Rare to Wear, Haiti Ocean Project conducted an eight-month assessment into thetortoiseshell trade in the country, from October 2018 to May 2019, the first on record for the country.
Their staff visited 13 fishing villages and two towns on the outskirts of Port au Prince, interviewing morethan 100 individuals, including local fishermen, their wives, community leaders, and people who work at
local markets.
The research confirmed that the shells are being transported across the border with the Dominican
Republic and overseas. It remains unclear who is purchasing these shells in the Dominican Republic.
One fisherman reported that individuals from the Dominican Republic visited his village to work out adeal to purchase the hawksbill shells. To avoid capture by the authorities, Dominicans hire local Haitians
to separate the scutes, place them in suitcases, and transport them across the border. This puts the
Haitians at risk while protecting the Dominicans who are the ones making the largest profits. Fishermenin the southern Haitian community of Les Cayes also confirmed that hawksbill shells in the past had been
prepared for export to another country, but they could not confirm where they were exported to.

• In August 2019, Too Rare To Wear received a report through the website of a roadside vendor near
Concord Falls selling bracelets and pendants. According to the report, the vendor claimed the scutes havebeen shed by the hawksbills (which is not scientifically accurate). Follow up with Ocean Spirits confirmed
this was a known tortoiseshell seller.

Hawksbill carapaces are also sold locally to individuals who admire the beauty of the shell, to hang themin their homes or businesses. The principal areas of commerce were the Iron Market, a big public market
in the city, as well as Petionville and Delmas (wealthy suburbs to the southeast of the capital). The shells
sold at the Iron Market were caught by fishermen in coastal fishing villages just west and southwest ofPort-au-Prince, including Gressier and Leoganne. Vendors in Petionville also sell hawksbill and green
turtle shells along the roads going up the mountains. During interviews, Haiti Ocean Project staff weretold that most of these shells are sold to visitors or tourists, not locals.

• According to data from Japanese imports in the Monterey Bay Aquarium study, Grenada exported 3,532 kilos of
tortoiseshell (7,770 lbs) to Japan between 1973 and 1991.

ANECDOTAL INFORMATION• One full hawksbill shell was seized coming into the US between 2007 and 2017 according to US Fish &Wildlife Data.

• In July 2017 officials at the Charles De Gaulle airport in France seized nearly half a ton of hawksbill shells
in cartons sent by air freight from Haiti on route to Viet Nam. The shells were from an estimated 380
hawksbills with an estimated street value of US $350,000. (link)

ANECDOTAL INFORMATION• From 2007 to 2017, a total of six seizures of eight hawksbill products were confiscated at the US borderby US Fish & Wildlife Service. The products were primarily carapaces and shell products.
• According to data from Japanese imports in the Monterey Bay Aquarium study, Haiti exported 51,201
kilos of tortoiseshell (112,642 lbs) to Japan between 1959 and 1991.

33

MINOR / ANECDOTAL INFORMATIONANECDOTAL INFORMATIONDOMINICAN REPUBLICLEGAL STATUS: Illegal to buy or sell turtle products.
PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017:15 confiscated in a government operation (2017)• In October 2017, the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources conducted various operations
around the country, including souvenir shops in San Pedro de Macoris, Juan Dolio and Guayacanes.
The only information available was that 15 products were confiscated, but news reports were not clear
in which towns shops were found selling these products, or how many shops were implicated. (link) In
addition, an entire hawksbill carapace was confiscated in an online transaction and one of the people
involved claimed it had been brought from the Dominican Republic (Link).

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE TRADE::
None that we are aware of• As noted in the previous section, researchers in Haiti believe there is a strong trade of raw carapaces
and scutes from Haiti into the Dominican Republic and from there to Japan (as noted in the Japancountry report..

MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE: 2010

• Between 2007 and 2017, the Dominican Republic had the largest total of seizures recorded coming
into the US. Seventeen seizures for a total of 50 hawksbill products were reported by US Fish & Wildlife
Service, including whole turtles, meat, carapaces, and trophies.

The sale of hawksbill products in the Dominican Republic was banned in 2009 and the market is believedby several researchers to have dramatically diminished, though no systematic survey has been conductedsince 2010. According to one report from WWF Mexico, the quantity of tortoiseshell products decreased
99 percent from 2006 (noted below), when roughly 23,000 products were counted, to 2009, when only
135 products were counted (link). However, we were not able to confirm those figures, as no report fromTRAFFIC in 2009 was found and the report from 2006 (see below) did not specify 23,000 tortoiseshell
products counted. This decline is attributed to strong government action including the banning of the
tortoiseshell trade and encouragement of alternative types of materials like cow horn.

• According to data from Japanese imports in the Monterey Bay Aquarium study, the Dominican Republic
exported 14,624 kilos of tortoiseshell (32,173 lbs) to Japan between 1882 and 1987.

The most recent research is from the Secretaria de Asuntos Ambientales del Tratado de Libre Comercio(the Secretary of Environmental Issues of the Free Trade Treaty CAFTA), an agency related to the CAFTA
Treaty between the US, Central America, and the Dominican Republic (SAA). The SAA report was led by
Costa Rican researcher Didiher Chacon, then of WIDECAST. The 2010 SAA survey visited souvenir shops
in 10 locations around the country, finding 44 shops selling tortoiseshell, though it was not clear the total
number of shops visited or how many products were found and we were not able to track down any
additional reporting on this research.
Some anecdotal evidence listed below suggests that trade still occurs in the country, which may warrant
new research to confirm. Recent research from Haiti (page 33) indicated ongoing trade of hawksbill
scutes from Haiti to the Dominican Republic. In addition, internet research turned up a couple ofincidents of seizures of hawksbill products from the country (see anecdotal section below).

PREVIOUS STUDIESTOURISTS, TURTLES, AND TRINKETS: A LOOK AT THE TRADE IN MARINE TURTLE
PRODUCTS IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC AND COLOMBIA (TRAFFIC 2006)
In 2006, research by TRAFFIC showed the tortoiseshell trade in the Dominican Republic to be extensive.
Seven locations were visited, with a total of 249 of 414 souvenir shops visited (60 percent) selling
hawksbill items. The report notes an estimation of 50,000 turtle products found (as opposed to the
23,000 products noted above), which were described as hawksbill products but not necessarily products
related to the shells.

34

35

COUNTRY REPORTS: SOUTH AMERICA

TRINIDAD / TOBAGOLEGAL STATUS: Illegal to buy or sell turtle products.
PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017: 20

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE TRADE::

COLOMBIA· Nurturing Nature Trinidad & Tobago

LEGAL STATUS: Illegal to sell or buy turtle products.

MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE:

PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017: 4,325

2019 (Nurturing Nature Trinidad & Tobago, unpublished)

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE TRADE::· Fundación Tortugas del Mar· WWF Colombia

MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE:

Staff from Nurturing Nature Trinidad & Tobago visited a total of 22 souvenir shops on the island of
Tobago. Local turtle organizations here had suspected that there was no current trade but thought itworthwhile to conduct a survey since it had been several few years since markets had been surveyed.
No tortoiseshell products were found at any of the stores during the survey, though in January 2020, one
shop in Englishmen’s Bay was found selling approximately 20 bracelets.

2019 (Fundación Tortugas del Mar, unpublished, & CITES)

Fundación Tortugas del Mar has been carryingout studies of tortoiseshell sales in the coastal cityof Cartagena since 2008. Too Rare To Wear has
been providing financial support for research andoutreach since 2017. Since Endangered Souvenirs
was published, the Fundación has continued
surveys in Cartagena and has expanded thosesurveys to the the islands of San Andres andProvidencia, as well as the coastal cities of Santiago
de Tolu, Coveñas, Rincon del Mar, Santa Marta,
Rodadero, and the capital Bogota.

One interesting note; during the survey one of the vendors, when asked if they sold tortoiseshell, said
that their lease for the shop included a clause about selling anything illegal at the store. The clause did
not mention hawksbill products specifically but did mention leatherback turtles as well as coral.

PREVIOUS STUDIESTURNING THE TIDE: EXPLOITATION, TRADE AND MANAGEMENT OF MARINE TURTLES
IN THE LESSER ANTILLES, CENTRAL AMERICA, COLOMBIA AND VENEZUELA (2006)

In Cartagena, the Fundación has documented adramatic decrease in tortoiseshell sales by street
vendors (the primary sellers of these products) due to efforts by conservation organizations (including
the Fundación and WWF Colombia) in conjunction with government authorities. In 2017, 12 of 60 vendors
were selling these products (20 percent), while in 2018 and 2019, only two and four sellers were foundrespectively (out of 65 surveyed in 2018 and 222 surveyed in 2019).

Apart from consumptive uses, fishers derived supplementary income from the sale of sea turtle
products, including stuffed juveniles, tortoiseshell jewelry, and trinkets and polished whole carapaces, allof which fetched good prices in both local and export markets throughout the 20th century. Hawksbill
shell has long been used to fashion jewelry and household items and has been a source of foreignexchange.
During the 1970s, Tobago’s Handicraft Section (Ministry of Community Development) purchased sea
turtle shells for use in their village programs as the raw material for making bracelets, earrings, brooches,pendants, and hair clips. In the late 1990s, hawksbill shell articles were openly sold in many touristoriented retail markets, including both airports (Piarco International Airport in Trinidad and Crown Pointin Tobago), as well as by roadside vendors and in hotel shops and boutiques, particularly in Tobago. In
Tobago, education of locals and tourists has “greatly changed this situation” and these items are now
much less commonly seen.

The Fundación estimated roughly 1,800 to 2,200 products found for sale in 2017, dropping to 200 to 400
in 2018, and 120 to 220 in 2019, an estimated 90 percent decrease in sales. The Fundación accompanied
patrols by Colombian authorities each year, witnessing the confiscation of 271 pieces of tortoiseshell in
2017, 203 pieces in 2018, and 36 in 2019 from a total of 14 vendors.
In our online research, we found six advertisements for tortoiseshell products sold in Colombia, primarily
cockfighting spurs sold on Facebook. See the Online Trade section on page 71 for more information.

ANECDOTAL INFORMATION• There were two reported seizures of two carapaces coming into the US between 2007 and 2017.
• According to data from Japanese imports in the Monterey Bay Aquarium study, Trinidad & Tobago exported 3,199
kilos of tortoiseshell (7,038 lbs) to Japan between 1952 and 1985.
36

Photo Credits: Fundación Tortugas del Mar

37

TABLE 1: TORTOISESHELL SURVEYS IN COLOMBIA
CITY

SHOPS
VISITEDSHOPS WITH
TORTOISESHELL%# OF
PRODUCTS

ESTIMATED
VALUE

Coveñas40410450-600$ 4,700

Rincon del Mar

4

1

25

750-950$7,100Santa Marta

47

6

13

110-210$1,350Rodadero

184

10

5

200-400$2,200San Andres

20

1

5

60-150$750

Providencia

2

1

50

450-600$3,880Santiago de Tolu

50

1

2

35-95

$255

Bogota351

3

150-200$950

TOTALS382

25

8

2,205 - 3,205

to being offered in physical markets, five offersof cockfighting spurs made of hawksbill shellwere found online. Some of these advertisements
indicated that they would ship the products to any
place within the country upon demand. It seems
possible that these products could also be shipped
to destinations outside the country. Anecdotal
evidence suggests that these products may be
exported to countries such as Ecuador, Guyana,
Suriname, and Venezuela.

ENDANGERED SOUVENIRS (2017)
Information from Colombia has been collected since 2008 by Fundación Tortugas delMar, as part of an ongoing independent study they have conducted to assess the tradeof hawksbill products in the city of Cartagena. Each year from 2008 to 2013, 60 to 65 street vendors
were surveyed; a further 32 souvenir shops and retail stores were also visited. Prior to 2012 none of thepermanent locations had any hawksbill products for sale, but in the last five years tortoiseshell items
have been recorded in these stores.
Of the street vendors, from 2008 – 2012, 15 – 24 stalls were recorded selling hawksbill products each year
(20 – 36.9 percent), exclusively in the area of Amurallado (the historic walled city). Since 2012, surveyors
have observed an expansion of the trade of hawksbill items into neighboring tourist locations, such as
Bocagrande and Castillo de San Felipe, and a minimum of 18 stores and stalls were reported selling
tortoiseshell products during each survey.

$21,185

In total (including Cartagena), the Fundación made 1,273 visits to shops and vendors in these 9 cities
from 2017 to 2019, finding tortoiseshell 62 times (5 percent). They estimated a range of 4,325 to 6,025
products found over that time period with an estimated value of about US $41,000.

PREVIOUS STUDIESCITES (2019)

TOURISTS, TURTLES AND TRINKETS: A LOOK AT THE TRADE IN MARINE TURTLE
PRODUCTS IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC AND COLOMBIA (TRAFFIC 2006)

The sale of raw sea turtle carapaces exists in the Colombian departments of Bolivar, Valle del Cauca,
La Guajira, San Andrés, Providencia, Santa Catalina, and Sucre. A fisherman in Tolu (Sucre) was sellingsea turtle carapaces to people from the cities of Bogotá, Medellín, Monteria, and Cali. When visited, six
carapaces were in his possession (five green turtles and one loggerhead, but he also appeared to sellhawksbill carapaces). Findings suggest that carapaces sourced from the San Andrés, Providencia, andSanta Catalina Archipelago are sent to Cartagena to be worked and sold as handicrafts.

In Colombia, three locations with seven distinct trade areas were visited, with hawksbill tortoiseshell
items traded in craft markets, souvenir shops, and by street vendors. A total of 223 shops and vendors
were investigated, with 60 of these offering hawksbill products for sale. Products were generally available
in established shops and stalls, by vendors (walking in the city or along the beaches), and throughinformal “sidewalk artisans” selling crafts and jewelry items. The old city in Cartagena and El Rodadero inSanta Marta are the places where most of the hawksbill shell items were traded.

The sale of handicrafts made of hawksbill carapace was found to exist in Cartagena, Santiago de Tolu,
Santa Marta and Baru, though no specific counts of shops or products were available. In Cartagena,
products are commonly offered in street sales in main tourist places. At some locations, handicraft
products are openly offered and at others they are not displayed and will only be shown if requested. In
Magdalena department, two souvenir markets were found to sell hawksbill handicrafts, and one sellerindicated that the products came from Cartagena.

TURNING THE TIDE: EXPLOITATION, TRADE AND MANAGEMENT OF MARINE TURTLES
IN THE LESSER ANTILLES, CENTRAL AMERICA, COLOMBIA AND VENEZUELA (2006)
Hawksbill turtles are taken primarily for their shell, which is widely traded to make spurs of different
sizes for cockfighting and for fashioning into buckles, jewelry boxes, cooking ladles, hair combs and otherobjects sold at handicraft fairs and probably to tourist souvenir shops; it is said that in Cartagena there
are workshops where hawksbill shell is fashioned into different objects. CITES-reported exports of sea
turtles from Colombia for the period 1993–2004 (inclusive) consist virtually entirely of items apparently

The demand for cockfighting spurs made of hawksbill carapace in the Colombian Caribbean appears to
be growing. These spurs were found for sale in Baru (Bolivar), where it is easy to identify retailers andcockfighting locations through taxi drivers. The sale of cockfighting spurs is made discretely. In addition
38

Photo Credits: Fundación Tortugas del Mar

39

VENEZUELA

seized on arrival in either the USA or Spain. Sixof the shipments to the USA (including one of468 hawksbill carvings in 1994 and another of 10
hawksbill carapaces in 1992) were recorded ascommercial, while the remaining shipments arepresumed to have been for personal use (e.g. 60eggs) or tourist souvenir specimens.

LEGAL STATUS:

Illegal to sell or possess sea turtle products.

PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017: 21

The seizure in 2000, by the regional environment
authorities, the CAR of Canal del Dique(CARDIQUE), of a shipment of hawksbill shell in
Cartagena airport, possibly destined for Panama,
is the only other documented evidence ofinternational commercial trade from Colombia. The
two packages of hawksbill scutes were packed withcoconut shells and seashells. Customs authorities
in Aruba report seizing annually, on average, 100
pairs of cockfighting spurs made from hawksbill
shell originating from Colombia. Despite the factthat cockfighting is illegal in Aruba, the spurs
are clearly intended for local use and there is no
indication of re-export.

MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE:
2019 (Hector Barrios, unpublished)

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE TRADE::· Grupo de Trabajo en Tortugas
Marinas del Golfo de Venezuela(GTTM-GV)· Laboratorio de Ecología General,
Departamento de Biología, Facultad
Experimental de Ciencias, La
Universidad del Zulia (LUZ)

In the Guajira Peninsula (Gulf of Venezuela), formal evaluations and local market surveys of the illegal
trade of sea turtle products, including tortoiseshell, have been carried out by local organizations and the
University of Zulia since 2002 (Barrios-Garrido & Montiel-Villalobos, 2008; Barrios-Garrido et al., 2017).
However, due to the nature of this activity and the complex network that involves multiple actors suchas fishers/fish collectors (including turtle hunters), wholesalers/transporters, business owners, and final
buyers, the data presented here is likely an underestimate in terms of quantity, prices, and number ofpeople involved.
Despite the trade of tortoiseshell being illegal under Venezuelan law, commercialization of products
derived from hawksbill scutes is common in local markets in the Guajira Peninsula and online, withalmost no law enforcement (Barrios-Garrido et al., 2008). In most cases, the local sellers recognized theillegality of the trade, but they affirmed that the depressed economic conditions are the key factor thatincentivizes this trade (Castellano-Gil & Barrios-Garrido, 2006; Villate, 2010).

ANECDOTAL INFORMATION• In July 2018, the first reported confiscation of tortoiseshell products from tourists happened in
Cartagena. A Spanish couple was found in Las Bovedas, in the Historic Center, and several pieces of
tortoiseshell including a necklace and two bracelets were seized by authorities. The Spanish couple
claimed the items were brought from home. (link)

In the Gulf of Venezuela, the northwestern part of the gulf is settled by the Wayuú indigenous people
who still perform their cultural rituals using hawksbill turtles (Guerra Curvelo, 2011; Chacín, 2016). Due tothe economic conditions in this region, the illegal take of turtle products is highly impacting this species.
Furthermore, the illegal trade of sea turtle products including raw scutes and finished products between
Venezuela and Colombia is a historic activity carried out by Wayuú inhabitants (Robles, 2008) since theVenezuelan Guajira is the ancestral territory that crosses the border with Colombia.

• During our online research, three listings for tortoiseshell products were found for sale in Colombia.
These listings were all cockfighting spurs and ranged from 5,000 to 100,000 Colombian pesos for a pair
(US $1.50 to US $30).

In our online research, we found three advertisements of tortoiseshell products for sale in Venezuela,
primarily cockfighting spurs sold on Facebook. See the Online Trade section on page 71 for more
information.

• According to data from Japanese imports in the Monterey Bay Aquarium study, Colombia exported 937
kilos (2,061 lbs) of tortoiseshell to Japan between 1966 and 1975.

CITES (2019)
This report cites Barrios-Garrido et al. (2017) who found that sea turtles originating from thesouthwestern coast along the Gulf of Venezuela are moved across the border into Colombia. Theseauthors found that, according to 33 respondents, the most common destinations in Colombia were thecities of Riohacha and Maicao (Guajira Colombian Peninsula), although some respondents also indicatedValledupar, Santa Marta, Barranquilla, Cartagena de Indias, Rosario Islands, and even Panama. There was
not much clarity concerning the products that are exported. Some of the responses obtained by thoseauthors indicated that this trade comprised only hawksbill carapaces.
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41

MINOR/ANECDOTAL SALESPREVIOUS STUDIESTURNING THE TIDE: EXPLOITATION, TRADE AND MANAGEMENT OF MARINE TURTLES
IN THE LESSER ANTILLES, CENTRAL AMERICA, COLOMBIA AND VENEZUELA (2006)

ECUADORThe consumption of meat and eggs, use of carapaces for decoration and production and consumption ofother products derived from sea turtles are a deeply rooted tradition in most of the coastal communitiesof the country. Research undertaken in the late 1980’s aimed at assessing the status of sea turtles of
the Caribbean coast of Venezuela revealed that many turtles were taken in foraging grounds and thatthe killing of nesting females and collection of nests were intensive, fueled by a high demand on theinternal market for meat and other products for consumption and ornamental use (Guada and Solé,
2000). Hawksbill scutes were fashioned into various objects, in particular spurs for cockfighting, and large
quantities of these and other products were handcrafted, principally on Isla de Margarita and in a few
other cities along the coast.

LEGAL STATUS:LOCAL ORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE TRADE::PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017: None

· Equilibrio Azul

Illegal to sell or possess sea turtle products.

MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE: None
In November 2016, Cristina Miranda of Equilibrio Azul, an Ecuadorean conservation organization,
reported that tortoiseshell products are sold in the country but not frequently (pers. comm.). She
reported that occasionally artisans near Machalilla National Park offer tortoiseshell products for sale. The
artisans claim that they come from dead hawksbills washed up on the beach, though Equilibrio Azul does
not believe that to be true. A dead hawksbill was found in September 2016 without any scutes. She also
confirmed that tortoiseshell is popularly used as cockfighting spurs across the country.

According to CICTMAR (2002), whether and how sea turtles are marketed depended on the species andthe proximity of the animal’s site of capture to either a point of sale or a potential buyer. When a nestingfemale was taken on the beach or on a fishing ground, the meat was often consumed by the fishers, theirfamilies, and friends. Parts, such as carapaces or hawksbill scutes, are sold in accordance with demand.
In 1997 and 1998, Guada and colleagues recorded a price equivalent to US $1,000 per kilo of hawksbill
scutes at one site along the Gulf of Paria (Irapa). There was also a demand for sea turtle carapaces, which
are decorated for sale around the country.

During our online research, a total of six listings for tortoiseshell products were found online in Ecuador,
all of which were for cockfighting spurs. See the Online Trade section on page 71 for more information.

ANECDOTAL INFORMATION
PERU• During informal open-ended interviews, some acquaintances and colleagues have claimed that it ispossible to find tortoiseshell products across the country, most of which are cockfighting spurs.
• Anonymous sources believe tortoiseshell products have been brought to Venezuela from Cuba, due
to their being called Cuban spurs (‘Espuelas Cubanas’) as well as the fact that they look different thanothers handcrafted in Venezuela or Colombia. Sources affirmed that this trade has occurred due to thelack of surveillance of flights between Venezuela and Cuba to the Simon Bolivar International Airport
in Maiquetia, the country’s most important airport. Because of the close diplomatic ties of these twocountries, flights from Cuba to Venezuela often use the national (domestic) terminal, allowing them tobypass customs officials. However it is not clear if this trade is ongoing or in the past.

LEGAL STATUS:LOCAL ORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE TRADE::PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017: None

None that we are aware of

Illegal to sell or possess sea turtle products.

MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE: None

• During our online research, to listings for tortoiseshell were found in the country, which were bothbracelets that cost US $1 to $5.

Miranda of Equilibrio Azul reported that volunteers had alerted them of tortoiseshell sales in Mancora in
Northern Peru (on the border with Ecuador). These sales have not been directly confirmed. In October
2019, Joana Alfaro of ProDelphinus, a Peruvian conservation organization, confirmed that open sales ofthese products no longer occur at this site, but there is a black market (pers. comm.). Previously, products
were sold in places in the northern part of the country, including Mancora and Cancas.

• According to data from Japanese imports in the Monterey Bay Aquarium study, Venezuela exported 2,865 kilos of
tortoiseshell (6,303 lbs) to Japan between 1957 and 1986.

One advertisement for tortoiseshell products was found for sale online in Peru. See the Online Tradesection on page 71 for more information.

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43

COUNTRY REPORTS: NORTH AMERICA

California, Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii.
According to a 2016 poll by KRC Research for WildAid, more than 80 percent of the US public supports
wildlife conservation measures, but only one in five know anything about the illegal wildlife trafficking
and trade problem here. When asked to rank the issue in terms of importance, ending illegal wildlife
trade ranks highly, together with water conservation and general wildlife conservation, and ahead of
reducing the effects of climate change and strengthening environmental protections.

USA
LEGAL STATUS:

Illegal to import, export, possess, sell, transport, kill, harass, or harm sea turtles; legality of the sale ofturtle products depends on state.

In our online research, we found four advertisements of tortoiseshell products for sale in the US, whichwere primarily antique products sold on eBay. See the Online Trade section on page 71 for more
information.

MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE: Not applicable

MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM STUDY (2019)

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS WORKING ON THE TRADE::· SEE Turtles· Defenders of Wildlife· WildAid· Wildlife Trafficking Alliance· International Fund for Animal Welfare· World Wildlife Fund

Sea turtle parts are the most commonly intercepted products by customs agents from tourists returninghome from the Caribbean. Seizure records at US ports of entry revealed trafficked hawksbill sea turtles
or parts arrived from 72 countries on 352 occasions from 1999 to 2018. Of the 20 countries with themost hawksbill seizures, 14 were also historical turtle exporters. The most frequently used transportation
mode was air cargo, followed by personal accompanying baggage and mail. Seventeen of 352 seizures
arrived by ocean cargo, indicating that much of the modern global trade has shifted from sea to airtransportation.

· Humane Society International &US· Wildlife Trafficking Alliance (AZA)

In the US, tortoiseshell products are generally sold online (which is rare), smuggled into the country,
or brought into the country by travelers, often unknowingly breaking the law. Data from the US Fish &Wildlife Service on wildlife product seizures from Latin America and the Caribbean to the US (compiled
by Alejandra Goyenechea of Defenders of Wildlife), from 2007 to 2017 (when the most recent data isavailable), show 67 seizures of hawksbill products at the border. However, that is likely significantly
undercounted since the majority of seizures of sea turtle products (a total of 531) don’t list a specificspecies and hawksbills are the most common one found.

The majority of hawksbill sea turtle products (roughly 65 percent) seized entering the US was raw,
unprocessed whole turtle, carapace, or scutes, rather than carved tortoiseshell. Of the unprocessedrecords of varying sizes, 41 percent was from the Caribbean, Central America, and Mexico, indicating that
the US may be a node for hawksbills transported from the western hemisphere to Asia.

ANECDOTAL INFORMATIONOf seizures identified as hawksbills, a total of 317 pieces were confiscated, with an estimated value of US$105,688 (note: 2 individual shell products were estimated to be a value of $100,000 which would seemto be unlikely and perhaps incorrect as few products have been found of this value). Of the 317 pieces,at least 211 are likely related to tortoiseshell, either carapaces/shells, shell products, scutes, and bodies,
specimens, and trophies. Of the seizures not specified by species, roughly 162 pieces are fairly likely to be
hawksbill products. See table 2 below for specific counts.

• In October 2018, Keith Swindle of the US Fish & Wildlife Service stated that tortoiseshell products
are likely to be found in Hawaii, primarily at flea markets and swap meets (Pers. comm.). Sales in
Hawaii are probably most often resale of collected items from estate sales or from Micronesians andother Pacific Islanders that reside in the state. These residents bring these products with them as
immigrants or acquire it via mail or by personal baggage from familial relationships and then craft
locally or simply sell the finished items sent to them. Once these items are inside the US, the burden ison federal enforcement officials to prove they were illegally imported and not brought or given prior totheir sale being illegal.

TABLE 2: TORTOISESHELL SURVEYS IN USA
TURTLEJEWELRYCARPACES/
SHELLSSHELL
PRODUCTSSCALES

BODIES/
SPECIMENS/TROPHIESTOTALS

Hawksbill

11

136

24

23

17

211

Not Specified

42

76

36

5

3

162

• Federal seizures are typically trinkets (jewelry) or an occasional small carapace found in the US mailthat are being sent to US citizens from residents or relatives in Micronesia or were purchased during
travel in the Pacific and then mailed back to themselves. These items are generally found during
border inspections of incoming mail. U.S Fish and Wildlife Service does not see high volume shipments,
just many individual items like earrings, combs, and bracelets. Recent changes to Hawaii state law makethe ‘possession with intent to sell’ of products made of a variety of species (including sea turtles) illegal.
These violations are now enforceable by State Conservation Officers, or by the US Fish and Wildlife
Enforcement Officers when interstate commerce is involved.

While it is illegal to bring sea turtle products into the country or possess them, products that were owned
before laws protecting them were passed can be owned or sold as antiques. In addition, the sale of sea
turtle products within states (as opposed to across state lines) continues to be legal, except in statesthat have explicitly passed laws outlawing these sales. The Humane Society US has been leading efforts
to pass state laws outlawing sales of endangered wildlife, which to date includes, but is not limited to,• According to data from Japanese imports in the Monterey Bay Aquarium study, the US exported 4,401 kilos of
tortoiseshell (9,682 lbs) to Japan between 1884 and 1990.
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45

MINOR/ANECDOTAL SALESCOUNTRY REPORTS: ASIA

MEXICOCHINALEGAL STATUS:LOCAL ORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE TRADE::PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017: None

None that we are aware of

Illegal to sell or possess sea turtle products.

LEGAL STATUS: Illegal to sell or possess sea turtles or products.
MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE: 2019
LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS WORKING ON THE TRADE::

MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE: None

· WildAid· Sea Turtles 911· Traffic· Global Environment Institute· Guangxi Biodiversity Research andConservation Association

There are no reported sales of tortoiseshell
products in Mexico from conservation organizations
or travelers. According to data from the US Fish andWildlife Service, from 2007 to 2017, there were atotal of eight seizures from Mexico of 16 hawksbill
products including carapaces, jewelry, and trophies.
This was the second highest number of seizuresfrom any country, though it is not clear if the
products all originated in Mexico or were passed
through the country on route to the US.

China has emerged as a major source for illegal tortoiseshell sales as Japan has declined as an importing
country. Despite the action taken by the Chinese government detailed below, there is evidence in a
number of countries that Chinese citizens traveling abroad purchase these products to bring back to
the country, including Laos, Viet Nam, Tanzania, Zanzibar, and Angola (see individual country reports
for more information). As this report goes to publication, the Chinese government is considering majorchanges to the wildlife trade laws due to fears that the corona virus came to humans from wildlife,
though it is not clear whether these changes will affect the tortoiseshell trade, which is already illegal in
the country.

According to data from Japanese imports in the Monterey
Bay Aquarium study, Mexico exported 2,068 kg of
tortoiseshell (4,550 lbs) to Japan between 1973 and 1990.

SEA TURTLES, AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE:
WILDAID (2018)
WildAid is working with the Chinese government to research and combat the trade in sea turtles in the
country and to address demand for these products. In their report, the organization reviewed available
information on the sea turtle trade and surveyed Chinese citizens on their views related to attitudes
toward this trade. Of the 1,500 people surveyed, 17 percent of respondents had purchased sea turtle
products and another 22 percent are considering making a purchase in the future. The majority of bothcategories strongly preferred jewelry products primarily made from hawksbills, and nearly half of theconsumers purchased the products as souvenirs at domestic shops.
Sea turtles in Chinese waters have long been depleted, shifting the primary source of this trade to thewaters of the Coral Triangle (the waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon
Islands, and Timor-Leste). Numerous seizures of turtle products on their way to China have been madeover the past decade, making China’s role as a key consumer of these products clear. In addition, sea
turtle products are smuggled overland across the border with Viet Nam. Between 2013 and 2017, 10
seizures have been recorded, with an estimated total of more than 1,200 sea turtles, among other items,
headed for either China or Viet Nam. Tourists bringing home tortoiseshell souvenirs from abroad is also
an issue of concern.
According to WildAid, hotspots for the sale of sea turtle products are found throughout the island
Photo Credits: Karen Eckert (Left)

46

47

province of Hainan and coastal cities frequented by tourists in southern China. These products can also
be found in major cities across the country, including Beijing. A CCTV special report in June 2015 on thehawksbill retail scene in Tanmen, Hainan revealed that there was a thriving market for whole hawksbill
taxidermies and smaller products on the town’s arts and crafts shopping street, with taxidermies sellingfor 8,000 to 19,000 RMB per piece depending on size (roughly US $1,000 to 2,500).

were retail shops selling ornaments and souvenirs, except for one vendor that operated as a wholesale
shop supplying processed products mainly to the city of Shanghai. In Haikou, 467 items of sea turtle
products were displayed in 12 shops in four different antique and tourist markets. Qionghai, unlike Sanyaand Haikou, was not a popular tourist destination, but had the largest number of sea turtle products
recorded. A total of 25 shops in Tanmen Town were found to display 2,500 sea turtle products for sale.

However, this active retail scene is reported to have been impacted by a recent ban and crackdown on
the sale of giant clams. In Sanya, Hainan Province’s most popular tourist destination, the sale of hawksbill
products occurs in tourist souvenir shops including the Jiefang Road Pedestrian Shopping Street, and atseafood restaurants. There have been multiple cases of confiscated hawksbill products at Sanya Airport,
from tourists returning to other parts of China. The pattern is similar in Haikou and Beihai, where shops
selling these products are concentrated on pedestrian streets frequented by tourists.

ANECDOTAL INFORMATION• According to data from Japanese imports in the Monterey Bay Aquarium study, China exported 44,343 kilos of
tortoiseshell (97,555 lbs) to Japan between 1882 and 1986.

Encouragingly, according to WildAid, Chinese authorities have listed sea turtles as a priority conservation
species and have a renewed interest in restoring habitat and combating the illegal trade in sea turtle
products. The government partners with WildAid on massive public awareness campaigns and destroyed
confiscated sea turtle products at a ceremony in 2018.
Additional information can be found in the Online Research section.

PREVIOUS STUDIESMARKET FORCES: AN EXAMINATION OF MARINE TURTLE TRADE IN CHINA AND
JAPAN: TRAFFIC (2011)
According to this report from TRAFFIC East Asia in 2011, the sea turtle trade in China at the time
was centered on the domestic demand for ornamental whole specimens (stuffed or mounted) andtortoiseshell jewelry, as well as hawksbill scutes for use in traditional Chinese medicine. Researchers
surveyed souvenir shops across the country’s eight provinces and three municipal cities and 117 wereobserved to sell sea turtle products while eight traditional Chinese medicine wholesale shops were foundto sell hawksbill tortoiseshell. No sea turtle products were observed in Pinxiang (Guangxi Province),
Jiangmen (Guangdong Province), or Fuzhou (Fujian Province).
A total of 94 hawksbill specimens and 7,217 processed hawksbill shell products were observed for sale insouvenir shops during this survey. An additional 159 kg (72 lbs) of hawksbill scutes were found for sale inmedicinal shops. Among the locations surveyed, Hainan Province (Sanya, Qionhai, and Haikou) accounted
for the highest number of shops selling sea turtle products (49 percent) as well as the highest number ofobserved items made from processed hawksbill turtle (67 percent). The city of Beihai in Guangxi Province
followed, accounting for 16 percent of shops and 23 percent of observed items. Beihai also had thehighest number of whole hawksbill carapaces available, which accounted for 43 percent of the observed
trade.
Beihai is a large port city at the southern tip of Guangxi Province, immediately to the north of Hainan.
Four antique or tourist souvenir markets and two wet markets (markets where live or dead animals
are sold) were visited during this survey. A total of 1,726 tortoiseshell items were seen displayed in 19
retail outlets. Sanya had the largest retail markets among the three surveyed cities in Hainan. There
were 1,849 sea turtle products found in 20 shops mostly located in four different markets. Most of them48

Photo Credits: Aliki

49

CITES (2019)

INDONESIALEGAL STATUS: Illegal to sell or possess sea turtles or products.
PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017:Market surveys were conducted between April and July 2018 in the provinces of East Java and West Java(eight sites), Bali (30 sites), West Sumatra (11 sites), and North Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, West Sulawesi,
and Southeast Sulawesi. These sites included nesting beaches, hatcheries, tourist turtle attractions, local
fisheries, ports, markets, and souvenir shops. Products on sale and their prices were recorded at thesesites.

424 (plus online figures noted)

MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE: 2019 (Turtle Foundation, unpublished, and CITES)Out of 61 locations visited, turtle products were found on open sale at five sites among Southeast
Sulawesi (two) and Bali (three). Ornamental items (taxidermied turtles or ornaments made withcarapace) were found in two souvenir shops in Gianyar, Bali. The research also turned up two spots
where tortoiseshell was sold in Southeast Sulawesi, specifically Wameo Market and Kamali Beach, wherebracelets and rings were sold. In addition, two other places, Mentawai Islands and East Nusa Tenggara
were reported to have significant numbers of shell products (in addition to other turtle products), thoughthose places were not visited during this survey.

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS WORKING ON THE TRADE::· Turtle Foundation· PROFAUNA Indonesia· WWF Indonesia· Yayasan Penyu Indonesia

Indonesia has historically been one of the primary countries involved in the tortoiseshell trade. Basedon seizure data and anecdotal information, the country still appears to be a major source of shells forthe illegal international trade, with many of the shells going to Viet Nam or China. The online domestic
trade is still significant, with hundreds or thousands of products available for sale at any one time. The
domestic in-person trade appears to have significantly declined, though products can still be found insome places around the country in jewelry and souvenir shops.

ONLINE SALES
During August and the first week of September 2019, Yayasan Penyu Indonesia surveyed 11 electronic
platforms, nine specialized trade webpages and two social media networks. In total, 199 accounts selling
tortoiseshell products were found, with a total of 1,574 separate advertisements. The research turned
up at least 29,326 items available for sale. The total value of these products, as of October 2019, wasapproximately US $34,486.

The Turtle Foundation, in partnership with PROFAUNA Indonesia and with financial support from Too
Rare To Wear, conducted research on the island of Bali from May to September 2019. Researchers
found that hawksbill shell is used for special jewelry where some of the products are a combination of
tortoiseshell with gold and silver. The products are worn by local women as part of their festive clothing,for instance when they attend religious Hindu ceremonies. Bali is well-known in Indonesia for theseproducts. Domestic travelers appear to be the primary market for tortoiseshell products as opposed tointernational travelers.

For the CITES report, an electronic survey was conducted during an hour per day for one month (15 Julyto 15 August 2018) to search for the online availability of sea turtle products on commercial portals andsocial media (Facebook). A total of 13 search terms were used among the languages English,
Malay/Indonesian, and Mandarin. See the Online Trade section on page 71 for more information.

PREVIOUS STUDIESOf the at least 340 shops visited on the island, turtle products were found at 23 of them (about 6.7
percent). At least 417 products were counted, primarily jewelry such as earrings, bracelets, pendants,
brooches /pins, hair combs, hair clips, and hand fans. Turtle Foundation collaborators visited Sukawati
Village, which is known as the “heart of Balinese gold and silver jewelry production.” This popular tourist
location offers people the chance to see how these products are crafted. In 22 shops visited, tortoiseshell
items were found for sale in 13 of them. Other places where multiple shops were found selling
tortoiseshellincluded Denpasar (five shops) and Dalung (three shops).

Based on market observations by PROFAUNA in June 2015, more than 700 hawksbill carapace products
were observed for sale in Berau, East Kalimantan. Prior to this, in October 2014, PROFAUNA reported
the sale of hawksbill products in the same area to the authorities with sales subsequently decreasing. In
June 2016, however, sea turtle products were once again evident for sale in the area. There were at least
two seizure records in Kalimantan in 2016, comprising 135 souvenir products made of carapace and two
taxidermied turtles.

SHELLLED OUT? A SNAPSHOT OF BEKKO TRADE IN SELECTED LOCATIONS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA: TRAFFIC (2004)

The cost of these products ranged from 50,000 IDR to 1 million IDR (from US $3- 70). When asked, sellers
claim that the products are from old stock before it was made illegal to sell them. Some claimed thatonce they sell their current stock, they will not offer more tortoiseshell products. Other sellers did not say
much about their products and knew that their sale was illegal. The research showed that these products
were no longer sold in tourist spots and general souvenir shops.

Seven souvenir shops were surveyed in September 2001: two of these were found to have small amountsof bekko products on offer (note: “bekko” is another name for tortoiseshell most often used in Asia). Of
approximately 20 tourist shops surveyed, only one was found to have a small amount of items madefrom bekko. All dealers in the shops, when asked if any products made from sea turtle were available,
stated that they did not carry such items anymore, as it was illegal and marine turtles were protected.
50

51

VIET NAM

Even the shop that did have some items (approximately 25 rings) stated that these were from old stockand that once they were sold they would not be replaced.

LEGAL STATUS:

Over the past few years, staff there have developed a very strong working relationship with the police
and together they have been very successful in ‘cleaning up’ the sea turtle product trade in Denpasar.
Police have acted on all information regarding illegal trade provided to them by WWF and have carriedout very extensive sweeps of dealers, markets etc., and confiscated all sea turtle products.

Illegal to sell or possess sea turtle products.

PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017: 199

ANECDOTAL INFORMATIONLOCAL ORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE TRADE::· Education for Nature Viet Nam· Humane Society Viet Nam

MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE: 2019 (CITES)• Marcy Summers of Alliance for Tompotika Conservation reported in June 2017that tortoiseshell
products were for sale in Jogjakarta and Makassar (Pers. comm.).

Historically, Viet Nam was one of the top exporting tortoiseshell countries to Japan along with athriving domestic market. Multiple reports have indicated a significant decline in both the exportationand domestic sale of these products. But according to recent data, the illegal sale of tortoiseshell still
continues in several cities as well as online and the country now has a significant role as a stop along thetrade route of hawksbills from the Coral Triangle through the country and smuggled by land into China.

• According to data from Japanese imports in the Monterey Bay Aquarium study, Indonesia was historically the top
exporter of tortoiseshell to Japan by a significant margin. Records show that between 1903 and 1987, a total of
1,141,245 kilos of tortoiseshell (2,510,739 lbs) were exported from the country.

Some of the world’s largest seizures of hawksbills over the past few years have been Vietnamesefishing boats, including the largest seizure of hawksbills in decades, with an estimated 10 tons of shells
confiscated in December 2014. This case stemmed from an investigation from Education For Nature Viet
Nam (ENV) and resulted in jail sentences of four and a half years for two brothers who were infamous
for this trade. They were the first major Vietnamese traffickers to be prosecuted and the organization
believes it has had a significant impact on the smuggling of sea turtles into the country. This National
Geographic article has more information about this case.

• Too Rare To Wear has also received recent anonymous reports that tortoiseshell is being sold insignificant quantities openly on the island of Nias. Products are reported in the capital city, Gunung,
Bawomatalou, as well as the towns of Sorake and Teluk Dalam.

CITES (2019)Market surveys were conducted by ENV at 436 markets, souvenir shops, and jewelry shops between
January and April 2018 in the cities of Hanoi, Ha Tien, Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, and Vung Tau. Sea
turtle products were observed for sale in 39 of the 436 outlets surveyed. Nha Trang had the most shops
selling these products (10 sites out of 118), followed by Ha Tien (at nine sites out of 41) and Ho Chi Minh
City (nine sites out of 130), with Vung Tau having six shops (out of 50) and Hanoi having five shops (out of88).
Most of the products for sale were made of hawksbill, with a small number of green turtle products. The
products observed were mostly handicraft items, except for preserved specimens. Bracelets were themost frequently observed commodity (31 sites), followed by taxidermied turtles (15 sites). Total numbersof products found were not available due to ongoing investigations. ENV also conducted an online surveythat found a total of 25 individuals (unique online accounts) selling marine turtle products online on 42
different advertisements or posts. Check out the Online Research section for additional details.
Similar findings were previously observed by TRAFFIC in 2016, 2017, and 2018 during physical market
monitoring in Viet Nam, where at least 199 turtle products were for sale in five cities at 15 different sites
during this period. Notably, 11 of those sites were observed offering sea turtle products on more than
one occasion. All of the products observed were made of hawksbill, and most comprised either bangles
or bracelets. This data was unpublished.
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ANECDOTAL INFORMATION

Wealthy Vietnamese believe that burying taxidermied sea turtles in their house’s basement brings luck,
while wearing sea turtle products treats low blood pressure. In addition to domestic demand, demand
from Chinese nationals may be emerging. According to the Chinese Embassy in Viet Nam, the numberof Chinese tourists travelling to Viet Nam, especially to Nha Trang and Da Nang, has risen tremendously
over the last five years. Sources find that Chinese tourists often buy wildlife products including combs
and hairclips made of carapace. Prosecuted individuals have claimed that they export large amounts ofprocessed turtle products to wholesalers in China for local trade.

• As noted in the section on Haiti (page 33), in July 2017, officials at the Charles De Gaulle airport in France
seized nearly half a ton of hawksbill shells, in cartons sent by air freight from Haiti on the way to Viet
Nam. The shells were from an estimated 380 hawksbills and had an estimated sale value of US $350,000.
• According to an article in The Guardian (November 2014), Viet Nam’s environmental police seized arecord of more than 1,000 dead sea turtles which were being prepared for export to China. The raid wasat the resort town of Nha Trang and according to authorities, the shells were destined to be made into
handicrafts. It was not clear in the article how many of these turtles were hawksbills.

In 2016 and 2017, TRAFFIC observed 163 sea turtle products on the market in Viet Nam in Hanoi, Ho
Chi Minh, Nha Trang, and Ha Long. All of the products were made of hawksbill turtle and included
taxidermied turtles and handicraft items. In June 2018, 72 taxidermied sea turtles of various species wereseized in Vung Tau after being on display at a shell-craft shop. Eleven of the sites visited had items foroffer on more than one occasion.

• According to data from Japanese imports in the Monterey Bay Aquarium study, Viet Nam was historically one of
the top exporters of tortoiseshell to Japan. Records show that between 1894 and 1986, a total of 100,237 kilos of
tortoiseshell (220,521 lbs) were exported from the country.

PREVIOUS STUDIES
Based on market observations by PROFAUNA in June 2015, more than 700 hawksbill carapace products
were observed for sale in Berau, East Kalimantan. Prior to this, in October 2014, PROFAUNA reported
the sale of hawksbill products in the same area to the authorities with sales subsequently decreasing. In
June 2016, however, sea turtle products were once again evident for sale in the area. There were at least
two seizure records in Kalimantan in 2016, comprising 135 souvenir products made of carapace and two
taxidermied turtles.

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE MARINE TURTLE PRODUCTS TRADE IN VIET NAM:
TRAFFIC (2009)
TRAFFIC found a total of 5,846 turtle products in 84 retail outlets in eight localities surveyed. The mostproducts were found in Ha Tien, followed by HCMC, Phu Quoc Island and Nha Trang. Hanoi had anegligible amount of sea turtle products, perhaps because government vigilance was higher there
than elsewhere. A total of 769 souvenir and antique shops were visited, including markets, hotels
and department stores, and 10.9 percent contained sea turtle products, a relatively high percentage
considering that the material is illegal to sell. The most common items were jewelry, especially bangles(2,274 items) and rings (1,000), followed by various types of hair clips, pins and bands (987 pieces). A totalof nine bekko processing workshops were found during the surveys, employing at least 26 people. All of
the sea turtle processing workshops were found in the south of the country.

SHELLLED OUT? A SNAPSHOT OF BEKKO TRADE IN SELECTED LOCATIONS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA: TRAFFIC (2004)
Forty-three shops were visited in Ho Chi Minh City, encompassing the range from tourist souvenir shops,
art and craft shops, opticians and jewellers, to specialized bekko traders. Of these shops, 21 offeredbekko artefacts or stuffed turtles for sale. At the time of the survey in 2002, 10 families were reported
actively to be manufacturing hawksbill turtle products and there were three main dealers said to be
operating in Ha Tien. There were three outlets observed selling wildlife products during the visit in 2002,
but two of them were very small, having fewer than 100 hawksbill turtle articles each, mostly hairclips
and bracelets.
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PREVIOUS STUDIESJAPANLEGAL STATUS:LOCAL ORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE TRADE::PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017: Not Available· Japan Tiger & Elephant Fund
· Japan Wildlife Conservation Society· Humane Society International

Legal to sell tortoiseshell products domestically.

MARKET FORCES: AN EXAMINATION OF MARINE TURTLE TRADE IN CHINA AND
JAPAN: TRAFFIC (2011)
Research completed by TRAFFIC East Asia in 2011 found 11,080 bekko items for sale in 58 shops visited inTokyo, Nagasaki, and Okinawa between 2000 to 2008. Of the three cities, Nagasaki was found to have thehighest number of sea turtle products for sale (60 percent), followed by Tokyo (35 percent) and a small
amount found in Okinawa (5 percent). The bekko trade in Japan is comprised of finely crafted products,
including jewelry, combs, glasses frames, and traditional ornaments.

MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE: 2011

Tokyo, Japan’s capital, was found to have the largest number of bekko retail outlets; a total of 32 jewelry
shops and souvenir shops, with 3,872 bekko items recorded. Most shops in the city only displayed a few
items of each type in the showroom but stated that more stock was held in their storeroom and could
be shown to customers on request. Consequently, the actual quantity of bekko available in Tokyo might
be largely underestimated based on observed retail products. Unlike other surveyed cities, most Tokyobekko shops were not located in tourist hubs and were found in craft-oriented areas of the city. Largebekko shops usually had their own workshop and craftsmen.

As the country most responsible for the worldwide trade in tortoiseshell over the past two centuries,Japan
warrants consideration both for its historic role in the decline of hawksbill populations worldwide as wellas its continued legal domestic trade. The tortoiseshell trade in Japan and Europe began in the 1600’s andJapanese carvers gained a reputation as the most skilled artisans. According to the recent Monterey Bay
Aquarium study by the estimated the imports of bekko to the country from 1844 to 1992 to be nearly 9
million individual turtles, which caused a dramatic decline in hawksbill populations around the world,
resulting in the current “critically endangered” status. Japan was responsible for up to 80 percent of thistrade.

Surveys conducted in 2004 among traders and artisans across the country found that levels of
tortoiseshell stocks and sales were not diminishing, possibly due to illegal importation from Papua,Indonesia and other Asian countries such as Papua New Guinea, transiting through Singapore. The
largest seizures from Indonesia included the confiscation of 89 kg (2003) and 400 pieces (2004) of shells,
adding to many other packages smuggled by mail and by air.

MASAYUKI SAKAMOTO OF THE JAPAN TIGER & ELEPHANT FUND PROVIDED THE
FOLLOWING REPORT (MARCH 2020)
As a result of Japan’s withdrawal of their reservation on importing hawksbill shells, the stockpile of
tortoiseshell owned by the bekko manufacturers decreased by nearly half from 188 tons in 1995 to 102
tons in 1998. After that time, according to the information provided by the Ministry of Economy, Tradeand Industry (METI), the amount of the stockpile at each end of fiscal year had changed either a verysmall amount year over year and then finally dropped to about 28 tons in 19 years (in 2017). This lackof a significant decline in the stockpile was totally unexpected even by METI, which in 2001 predictedthat the stockpile would last 10 years.

ANECDOTAL INFORMATION• According to a personal communication from Rebecca Regnery of the Humane Society International,
there may be exportation of tortoiseshell from Japan to India, which would be illegal under CITES
regulations.
• Based on reports from Tokyo Customs, there were two seizures of tortoiseshell in 2018; one of 6.5 kg(about 14 lbs) and another of 9.9 kg (about 22 lbs).

Japanese law does not requires their customs officials to confiscate illegal imports of CITES restricted
products; instead they determine if an investigation needs to be opened in cases where a criminal
penalty is required. If a penalty is not required, the products are shipped back to the exporter. The official
customs statistics of suspensions of imports of hawksbill shells shows a trend that can be interpreted as
responding sharply to the bekko manufacturers’ insecurity about the stability of their businesses. The
annual average number of import suspensions reached more than 10 between 1994 and 2000, when the
manufacturers feared about the future of the bekko industry due to the withdrawal of the reservation.

• According to data from Japanese imports in the Monterey Bay Aquarium study, Japan imported 3.4 million kilos (7.48
million lbs) of tortoiseshell between 1869 and 1992, when the country ended their exception.
• Two tortoiseshell products were found for sale in our online research (though Japan was not our focus);these products were antiques. See the Online Trade section on page 71 for more information.

Then, after 15 years of few or no suspensions, the number sharply increased to 7 in 2016, 12 in 2017, and
8 in 2018. Even in 2019, 6 cases of illegal imports of bekko shipped by Express Mail Service (provided by
Japan Post) were found at Japanese customs between February and October. Most of the export
countries identified in those recent cases are identified as the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The sudden
increase of import suspensions seems to reflect the fear and impatience of bekko manufacturers, which
are caused by the decline of the official stockpile and termination of the government subsidy to theJapanese Bekko Association at the end of fiscal year 2016 (March, 2017).
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MINOR / ANECTODAL INFORMATIONPHILIPPINESMALAYSIALOCAL ORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE TRADE::PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017: 1 (online)

None that we are aware of

Illegal to sell or possess sea turtles or products.

LEGAL STATUS:LOCAL ORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE TRADE::PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017: 1 (online)

None that we are aware of

Illegal to sell or possess sea turtles or products.

LEGAL STATUS:

MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE:2018 (seizure information below)

MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE: 2019 (CITES)

According to multiple reports, the Philippines is a major source of hawksbill shells for other countries
including China and Viet Nam but there does not appear to be a current significant domestic market forthese products.

Malaysia historically was one of the largest exporters of tortoiseshell to Japan according to multiple
reports. Reports by the Indian Ocean and South-East Asia Memorandum of Understanding on theConservation and Management of Marine turtle (IOSEA, 2014) and Stiles (2008) also confirmed Malaysia’srole as a key source of hawksbills to China and Viet Nam.

SEA TURTLES, AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE: WILDAID (2018)
On the Filipino side, the remote southwestern island of Balabac has become a center for the gatheringand distribution of poached turtles. Poaching and selling hawksbill turtles provides additional income for
impoverished local fishing communities.

CITES (2019)
According to the CITES report, there does not appear to be much demand for tortoiseshell products or
stuffed turtles in Malaysia. Researchers conducted market surveys between April and June 2018 in thestates of Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu, and Melaka, as well as online surveys from July to August 2018.
During this time, no in-person trade was observed. For the online trade, one tortoiseshell bracelet was
found for sale.

SEIZURE INFORMATION (SOURCES LISTED BELOW):• In July 2017, authorities intercepted a boat carrying 70 dead hawksbill turtles off the coast of Dumaran
town in northern Palawan. The vessel was reportedly bound for Balabac, an island town in southern
Palawan. The animals had been collected from Barangay Maytegued, Taytay, in northern mainland
Palawan. (Source: Rappler)

However, turtle researchers from WWF-Malaysia and University Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) reported
that the town of Semantan, which is considered to be an active trading location for illegal wildlife
products, was also known to trade in sea turtle products. However due to time constraints, this location
could not be surveyed in time for this study but should be considered for future surveys.

• In October 2014, a businesswoman whose company was allegedly involved in a smuggling attempt
was arrested and released on bail. The smuggling was of roughly 41 tons of protected marine species
detected at the port of Manila in 2011. The case involved two containers declared to be transporting
rubber that were found to be loaded with 163 green and hawksbill turtles. (Source: TRAFFIC)ANECDOTAL INFORMATION• In May 2014, authorities seized 555 sea turtles from a vessel off Palawan Island, including hawksbills
and green turtles. The turtles had reportedly been caught by Filipino fishermen and delivered to a
Chinese vessel. A local fishing boat was apprehended at the same time with 70 turtles on board. (FromRobin des Bois, On the Trail No. 7)• According to data from Japanese imports in the Monterey Bay Aquarium study, Malaysia was historically one of
the top exporters of tortoiseshell to Japan. Records show that between 1902 and 1984, a total of 204,362 kilos of
tortoiseshell (449,596 lbs) were exported from the country.

• In January 2012, scales from some 40 hawksbill and green turtles along with 100 pangolins containedin four boxes were seized by the Philippines National Police (PNP) Aviation Security Group at Puerto
Princesa airport, Palawan. (Source: TRAFFIC)

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MINOR / ANECDOTAL INFORMATION• In May 2011, the prime suspect in the foiled smuggling of corals, sea turtles, and other marine
resources at the Port of Manila surrendered to the authorities. The consignee of two container vansloaded with the items that were about to be exported to China and to Europe told the authorities that
he would help identify other persons involved. The shipment was reported to include 161 preserved
hawksbills and green turtles. (Source: TRAFFIC)LAOS

ANECDOTAL INFORMATION

In a news article on the website The News Lens (June 2017) about Laos’ black market for ivory products,
the San Jiang Market, which is close to Wattay International Airport, sells a number of illegal wildlife
products including hawksbill carapaces. Though hawksbill is not mentioned, the article notes thatillegal wildlife products can be found in luxury hotels and around Vientiane’s downtown. The shops areprimarily owned by Chinese citizens who market their products for Chinese travelers to bring acrossthe border. The article also notes that Laos has received “numerous sanctions for its inability to enforce(CITES) provisions.” The Freeland Foundation has studied the illegal wildlife trade in the country but did
not have any information on tortoiseshell products. (link)• According to data from Japanese imports in the Monterey Bay Aquarium study, the Philippines
was historically one of the top exporters of tortoiseshell to Japan. Records show that between
1898 and 1987, a total of 231,107 kilos of tortoiseshell (508,435 lbs) were exported from the country.

In addition, an article for The Ecologist (October 2011) mentions tortoiseshell bracelets for sale at a nightmarket, as well as turtle shells with pictures of the Buddha painted on the back (it was not clear if theshells were hawksbill from the article). These articles and the known illegal wildlife trade in the country
warrant additional investigation to determine the extent of the tortoiseshell trade in Laos.

THAILAND
From May to December 2018, team members of ProTECTOR, Inc. intermittently surveyed and mapped
tourism areas, open markets, and handicraft shops along most of the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand.
This area has some of the most popular tourism areas in the Gulf, including Laem Chabang, Pattaya, andthe island of Koh Lan. During surveys, Thai members of the ProTECTOR, Inc. team asked shop keepers
and market sellers if they had any stocks of hawksbill shell jewelry or sea turtle products for sale.
The most common reply to team members was that the selling of hawksbill shell products had beenstrictly outlawed, and since the government had banned the sale of such items, they had no intentionof selling turtle products any longer. Despite the wide recognition of the ban by local shop keepers andmarket sellers, some community members in non-touristic villages did report that a minor black market
for turtle eggs and meat still existed, but few had reported hearing of hawksbill curios for sale, even inthese black markets.

TAIWANNo current information is available on the tortoiseshell trade in Taiwan. In Lam et al (2011), a total of
6,348 turtle items were seized between 2000 and 2008 in Taiwan (Province of China), including 6,120
tortoiseshell items. This past abundance of products warrants additional investigation.

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COUNTRY REPORTS: AFRICA
MADAGASCARMOZAMBIQUE
LEGAL STATUS:LOCAL ORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE TRADE::
Turtles for Tomorrow

Illegal to hunt sea turtles, possess or export their products.

LEGAL STATUS:LOCAL ORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE TRADE::PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017: 200+

PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017: None

None that we are aware of

MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE: 2019 (CITES)

Illegal to possess or sell endangered animals.

MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE: 2019 (CITES)CITES (2019)

CITES (2019)

Tortoiseshell products were detected in craft markets in Pemba (Cabo Delgado) and Vilankulo(Inhambane). In Pemba, in a single tourist craft/art market store, more than 200 pieces of hawksbill
shell products were found (earrings, rings, bracelets, glasses frames, and an ashtray). Artisanal fishers
report not having the skills for making these products, but the Makonde (an ethnic bantu group present
in northwestern Mozambique) are known for these kinds of handicrafts, which suggests that there isintercity trade.

Sea turtle carapace products (either full carapaces or handicrafts) were observed in three locations
across three regions: in the village of Ambohibola (Antisimo-Andrefana), Nosy Be (Diana) and Mahajanga(Boeny). These locations comprised the home of a fisher woman (who bought the product in the capitalcity, Antananarivo, to use as a template for making similar products), a shop at an airport, and a bazar ina tourist market. Turtle carapaces were found to be used for making jewelry, but also often repurposed
for animal sheltering or to store animal feed or scraps in villages.
Hawksbill turtles were rare in fisheries catch records, suggesting a minor role of handicraft products inthe trade. Only 19 of 153 (12 percent) of respondents interviewed by researchers indicated that carapace
products were traded and 14 of these indicated the trade was minimal or decreasing. Marine biologist
Jess Williams of Tartarugas para o Amanha (TPA) noted additionally that more surveys need to becompleted in Antananarivo.
The researchers conducted a rapid electronic survey for online sales in May 2018. No sea turtle products
sourced from Madagascar were found in the study. It is possible that this type of trade is not of concern
in Madagascar, as there is a lack of internet access throughout many areas where sea turtles are landed.
Informants at the management level suggested that international trade is unlikely to be substantial given
the high local demand for turtle meat and products. There was no evidence found in the study to indicatethat international trade in sea turtles is substantial or an organized activity in Madagascar.

The present research into online trade was unable to identify the sale of sea turtle products. It is possiblethat this type of trade is not of concern in Mozambique, as there is a lack of internet access throughout
many areas where turtles are landed. The sale of turtle carapace products was found to take place intourist craft markets in both the north and south of the country.

ANECDOTAL INFORMATION• In October 2019, Jess Williams of TPA reported that there are new craft shops open in the Praia do Tofo
area selling tortoiseshell bracelets, similar to those observed in Pemba and Zanzibar (Pers. comm.). One
shop assistant explained they were sourced from Vilankulo (Inhambane). There were 15 items available
for sale.
• According to data from Japanese imports in the Monterey Bay Aquarium study, Mozambique exported 1,784 kilos of
tortoiseshell (3,925 lbs) to Japan between 1882 and 1986.

ANECDOTAL INFORMATION• According to data from Japanese imports in the Monterey Bay Aquarium study, Madagascar exported
36,459 kilos of tortoiseshell (80,210 lbs) to Japan between 1863 and 1986.

63

MINOR / ANECDOTAL INFORMATIONZANZIBARTANZANIALEGAL STATUS:LOCAL ORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE TRADE::
None that we are aware of

Illegal to hunt sea turtles or possess or export their products.

LEGAL STATUS:LOCAL ORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE TRADE::PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017: 45

PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017: None

· Sea Sense

MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE:

Illegal to hunt sea turtles or possess or export their products.

2017 (Jess Williams, unpublished)

MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE: None

JESS WILLIAMS OF TURTLES FOR TOMORROW (MOZAMBIQUE) PROVIDED THE
FOLLOWING REPORT (PERS. COMM. MAY 2017):

According to Lindsey West, Director of Sea Sense (Pers. comm. January 2019), the wildlife trade in the
country has changed due to the highly publicized ivory trade. There is now more awareness among
immigration staff and signage at the airport alerting tourists that the trade is illegal. However, due to a
now much larger presence of Chinese workers in the country, there are reports of requests of various
marine species from these workers, including for sea turtles. This assertion is backed up by a report of a
package of a half a kilo of hawksbill shell sent from Tanzania that was confiscated at the Chinese border(WildAid, 2018).

While wandering amid the maze of Stone Town alleys admiring beautifully carved doors, I stumbled
across the most magical curio-trinket-antiques store filled with genie lamps, wooden chests laced withembossed metal trimmings, gems, and silver jewelry. A group of men came in and the two shopkeepers
immediately reached for something in a cloth bag out a cupboard in the store. They laid down a circularbrass tray on the floor and proceeded to pour out of the bag many tortoiseshell bracelets. The men
apparently were visiting doctors from China and come in each week specifically to buy the tortoiseshell
products. They were collecting a small stockpile to take back home for family and friends and potentiallyresell.

CITES (2019)

The shopkeeper explained to the men that it was getting harder to find high-quality tortoiseshell, anddespite this, the men chose two pieces. They haggled the price down to 30,000 Tanzanian shillings(roughly US $15) and left. The turtle products were swiftly packed away and moved out of sight. The
shopkeeper was completely honest and open to discuss the tortoiseshell products. She described thefishers catching turtles, cutting out the meat and chopping off the carapace. She explained how thekeratin pieces are heated up to bend the scutes into a single bangle/cuff shape. The turtle shell is thensanded, buffed, and polished into the smooth, delicate, and glossy product the Chinese men keenly
sought after.

Interviews with fishermen in Cabo Delgado confirmed that illegal international trade in live specimensfrom Mozambique to Tanzania occurs. According to an elderly respondent, Tanzanians would place
an order with Mozambican fishers, who would use jarifa nets at night, catching up to 50 turtles.
Turtles would then be sent to Mtwara (the closest Tanzanian city across the border), where they would
reportedly sell for greater value than in Mozambique. (Note: it was not clear from the report if this trade
was specifically related to the tortoiseshell trade.)

PREVIOUS STUDIESEGYPTTHE MARINE CURIO TRADE IN DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA: SEA SENSE (2012)LEGAL STATUS:LOCAL ORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE TRADE::PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017: None.

· Medasset

Illegal to hunt sea turtles or possess or export their products.

According to this report, customers of Asian origin were observed purchasing hawksbill scutes andbangles made from tortoiseshell. In addition, Sea Sense staff were offered carapaces from four vendors
at the Dar es Salaam fish market in Kigamboni.

ANECDOTAL INFORMATION

MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE: 2015.

• According to data from Japanese imports in the Monterey Bay Aquarium study, Tanzania was a major exporter toJapan, exporting 76,490 kilos of tortoiseshell (168,278 lbs) to Japan and Hong Kong between 1952 and 1986.

According to the 2016 report by Medasset, New Observations of Sea Turtle Trade in Alexandria, Egypt, on
22 occasions during September 2014 to March 2015, trade was directly observed at two artefact shops in
the Anfoushi area. Four shells of hawksbill turtles from the Red Sea were observed on sale as artefacts.
Two sea turtle shells (species not identified) were reported in El Medan fish market; they could have been
green or loggerhead turtles, as those were also observed for sale in the country.
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COUNTRY REPORTS: OCEANIASEYCHELLESLEGAL STATUS:LOCAL ORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE TRADE::PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017: None

· Marine Conservation Society of
Seychelles

Illegal to hunt sea turtles or possess or export their products.

SOLOMON ISLANDSLEGAL STATUS:LOCAL ORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE TRADE::

MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE: None

PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017: Not Available· The Nature Conservancy

Historically, the Seychelles was one of the larger exporters of tortoiseshell to Japan and other countries.
According to Jeanne Mortimer in an abstract published in the proceedings of the 19th International Sea
Turtle Symposium, “In 1993, as a first step towards banning all domestic trade in hawksbill products,
the Government (of Seychelles) devised and implemented the Artisan Training and Compensation
programme that provided financial assistance to hawksbill artisans to help them find alternate
livelihoods. A component of that programme was Government purchase of the raw hawksbill shell stillin the possession of the artisans. In 1994, a law was passed providing complete legal protection for sea
turtles and banning all commercial trade in turtle products.”

MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE:

Legal to catch for subsistence, illegal to sell products.

2019 (The Nature Conservancy)

Fundación Tortugas del Mar has been carrying out studies of tortoiseshell sales in the coastal city ofCartagena since 2008. Too Rare To Wear has been providing financial support for research and outreachsince 2017. Since Endangered Souvenirs was published, the Fundación has continued surveys in
Cartagena and has expanded those surveys to the the islands of San Andres and Providencia, as well as
the coastal cities of Santiago de Tolu, Coveñas, Rincon del Mar, Santa Marta, Rodadero, and the capital
Bogota.

In November 1998, the government, in conjunction with the Miss World Pageant that was being hosted
that year, publicly burned the stockpile of shells it had purchased in 1993.

A REPORT ON TURTLE HARVEST AND TRADE IN SOLOMON ISLANDS: THE NATURECONSERVATION (2019)

ANECDOTAL INFORMATION

Research by staff at the Nature Conservancy on the sea turtle trade in the Solomon Islands happened
between October 2016 and May 2018. This research was completed by community monitors across theislands. They estimate that roughly 9,500 turtles are harvested annually in the Solomon Islands with arange of roughly 5,000 to more than 22,000 turtles per year. Of the more than 1,100 harvested sea turtles
observed during the study period, roughly 25 percent were hawksbills (285).

• In March 2013, a woman from Seychelles was sentenced to three months in jail in Singapore after beingcaught with 60 kilos (27 lbs) of hawksbill turtle shells in her luggage by the Singapore customs authority.
A Singapore newspaper, the Strait Times, reported that the shells were discovered by Immigration andCheckpoints Authority officers at Changi Airport. (link)

The report notes:• According to data from Japanese imports in the Monterey Bay Aquarium study, Seychelles exported 88,042 kilos of
tortoiseshell (193,692 lbs) to Japan and elsewhere between 1894 and 1985.

• Hawksbill turtle products were far more likely to be illegally sold (32.3 percent) than green turtle
products (12.1 percent). This difference can be largely explained by the trade in hawksbill shell, which was
documented in three of the 10 communities surveyed but was only a common practice in Wagina.

ANGOLA• Some hawksbill shell is also sold to local carvers, and despite this being banned under the national
fisheries policy, the sale of hawksbill jewelry is widespread in Solomon Islands.

According to the WildAid Report Sea Turtles: An Uncertain Future (2019), an arts and crafts market in the
country that targets Chinese customers sells whole taxidermied hawksbills. No other information was
found on the trade in this country.

The consumption of turtle meat and use of turtle shell in artwork and jewelry remain a central aspectof contemporary Solomon Islands culture. In the Wagina community, the shells of 87.5 percent of
hawksbill turtles harvested were sold to local buyers who then sold them to Asian buyers in Honiara.
Interviews with fishers indicate that there are two markets for hawksbill shell in the Solomon Islands:
a local market which supplies carvers and shell money makers, and another market that appears to beinternational, with hawksbill scutes being purchased by Asian buyers before presumably being exported
overseas. Some local carvers we talked to in Honiara openly complained about not being able to compete
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MINOR / ANECDOTAL INFORMATION

with Asian buyers, who were paying a higher price for scutes than what they could afford. Fishers also
provided reports of hawksbill scutes being sold to logging ships.

PAPUA NEW GUINEAANECDOTAL INFORMATIONLEGAL STATUS:• In June 2017, a traveler reported to Too Rare To Wear the sale of tortoiseshell products in the Solomon
Kitano Mendana Hotel in Honiara. A photograph was provided, but the number of products for sale could
not be determined.

Legal to catch sea turtles for subsistence, but illegal to sell turtle
products.

• According to data from Japanese imports in the Monterey Bay Aquarium study, the Solomon Islands
exported 91,909 kilos of tortoiseshell (202,200 lbs) to Japan between 1844 and 1992.

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE TRADE::
None that we are aware of.

PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017: None
MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE: 2019
No recent information is available on the current tortoiseshell trade in Papua New Guinea, though anumber of researchers believe there is a significant local trade. A local researcher confirmed that local
craftsman purchase hawksbill carapaces to carve them into armbands, necklaces, and other products(Pers. comm.). More research is needed to determine the current trade, though some researchers believethat it could be dangerous to investigate. No further explanation was provided.

TRAFFIC BULLETIN (2009):
Jeff Kinch of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and Elizabeth
Burgess of the University of Queensland surveyed markets throughout Papua New Guinea in 2009 andfound a total of 1,441 sea turtle products for sale, most of which were jewelry. Ninety-nine percent of thesea turtle products were made from hawksbill turtles.
Tortoiseshell has long been used by coastal and island villagers for a variety of utilitarian and decorative
purposes and was an important trade commodity between indigenous inhabitants and European
traders. Other uses of tortoiseshell include the manufacture of motifs (decorative designs in the form ofChinese dragons or bird-of-paradise—a national symbol of Papua New Guinea), and lime sticks.

ANECDOTAL INFORMATION• According to data from Japanese imports in the Monterey Bay Aquarium study, Papua New Guinea
exported 1,446 kilos of tortoiseshell (3,181 lbs) to Japan between 1938 and 1973.

68

69

ONLINE TRADEPALAU
LEGAL STATUS:

Ten-year moratorium on hunting or trading sea turtles or products
starting in 2017.

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONSWORKING ON THE TRADE::

As in-person trade declines in many places, thetortoiseshell trade has moved online in large partto better hide identities or to reach larger (andwider) audiences. Tortoiseshell products can
now be commonly found on online retailers andsocial media websites with marketplaces (suchas Facebook and Instagram), or through online
services through phone apps such as WeChat inplaces like China. According to research conductedby the Turtle Foundation (supported financiallyby Too Rare To Wear), Indonesia appears to bea major hotspot for the online trade, with nearly
30,000 products identified in a two-month study.
Latin America also has a significant trade, primarily
in cockfighting spurs, which appears to include
shipping products across country borders inviolation of CITES and national laws.

None that we are aware of

PRODUCTS OBSERVED SINCE 2017: None
MOST RECENT DATA AVAILABLE: None
In Palau, tortoiseshell has been used to make a traditional form of money, called “toluk.” In 2011, thecountry passed a five-year moratorium on the hunting of hawksbill turtles in the country. The initial
moratorium imposed size limits and a hunting season. According to the United Nations Food andAgriculture Organization (FAO), a new ten-year moratorium was passed in 2017 that banned the takingof hawksbills of any size at any time, including for use for toluk, though it does not affect toluk previously
made. There is no reported trade in tortoiseshell products other than toluk.

TONGA

While the websites selling tortoiseshell productsvary by region, the one constant across countries
with confirmed trade is Facebook and its Instagram
brand other than China where it is not allowed,.
Facebook is engaging with Too Rare To Wear andother organizations (including ENV in Viet Nam) toremove these products, though their system forthe general public to flag these illegal products
does not appear to be very effective.

LEGAL STATUS:

There is a legal sea turtle hunting season for male sea turtles (excluding leatherback turtles) and noprohibitions on the sale of turtle products.
According to Karen Stone of the Vava’u Environmental Protection Association, turtle products(predominantly hawksbills) are displayed and sold at markets in Tonga (Pers. comm.). The products
include carved carapaces and jewelry. The turtle is a status symbol for traditional feasts in Tonga. In
addition, Too Rare To Wear received a report from a traveler in October 2018 about a carved carapace forsale in Tonga, along with photographic confirmation.

In the case of ENV’s work with Facebook in Viet
Nam, they shared the following quote: “Facebook
has been responsive in our efforts to address
online suppliers of illegal wildlife such as sea turtles
and parts and products in Viet Nam. While ourinitial efforts in dealing with online cases involve
generating a law enforcement response, many
suppliers are not easily identified, and others areadvertising products that they do not have. ENV’s
fallback position has been to have the links
removed with a strong warning issued to the online
trader, or to request that the site be deactivatedby Facebook. Prior to this deactivation, ENV sends
another strong warning to the supplier so that heor she understands why their social media pageis deactivated. Our aim is to deter online sales ofendangered wildlife. Just in the first three quarters70

of 2019, ENV’s Wildlife Crime Unit has logged 519
cases comprised of 1,731 violations. Our current
success rate in addressing these cases is about 80
percent.”
Online retailers are beginning to take steps toaddress the illegal wildlife trade in their products.
This trade is now banned on the largest websites,
though enforcement of these policies varies. eBay
was the first website we were able to determinethat created its own guide for recognizing
tortoiseshell products. A group of companies
and conservation organizations called the Global
Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking Online hasformed, though attempts by Too Rare To Wear toengage with this effort have been unsuccessful
to date. The coalition has a lofty goal of reducing
online trafficking by 80 percent by 2020, though
no information is publicly available about any
advances to date.
Photo Credits: Hal Brindley / TravelForWildlife.com

71

METHODS

MAIN FINDINGS

Our method of finding tortoiseshell products
online involved using a series of keywords to collectinformation regarding illegal trade of sea turtle
products, focused specifically on hawksbill items(tortoiseshell and/or its derivatives). We identified
hawksbill products available online in order tocollect data and to report it (flagged and/or banned
the sellers) to webpage managers through public
flagging systems. For the purpose of this report wesummarized only product extracted from hawksbill
turtles, although we found other sea turtle
products on sale. The research was conductedin the US and Latin America by Hector BarriosGarrido, and in Indonesia by the Turtle Foundation.
Information from online research conducted by ENV in Viet Nam is also included (summarized from the2019 CITES report) as well as China (summarized from WildAid’s 2019 report).

· US / LATIN AMERICA:
We found 47 tortoiseshell items in total during the survey. Most of them were reported or flagged (33 of47); 14 products were not reported because some web pages do not have a clear reporting mechanism,specifically eBay because they base their policy on the reputation of the seller, and MercadoLibre.com
due to the necessity of having a personalized email account associated with each country where theproducts are sold. See Table 1 for the list of websites and numbers of advertisements found.

TABLE 3: TORTOISESHELL ADVERTISEMENTS FOUND IN THE AMERICAS

In order to identify these products, we used multiple key words in English, Spanish, and Bahasa(Indonesian). We tracked the products posted on multiple platforms including eBay, Instagram, Facebook,
MercadoLibre.com, Pinterest, Shopee, and other non-specialized sale web pages (see details in results
section). Although, we intended to create anonymous profiles (as opposed to personal ones) to avoid
being identified as conservation practitioners, this proved to be impossible as all the platforms requireda verified identity. As a result, we reported and/or flagged all the identified illegal products on sale, but
we did not contact any seller, so that we could track ways to obtain the products, prices for potential
retailers, and general markets, among other details, while avoiding identification of our researchers by
the sellers.

SHOPS VISITED

Facebook Marketplace

33

eBay

5

Mercado Libre

2

Pinterest

1

Offer Up

1

Facebook Marketplace was the web page with the majority of advertisements registered during thesurvey, 33 in total, all of which were reported. Facebook has a straightforward process to report the
product that requires the reason why the report is being made to be specified. During the survey, thereported products from Facebook Marketplace were marked as ‘Animal Sale’, which is forbidden in theirpolicies. Of the 33 items reported only nine (27.2 percent) were actually removed from the platform
within two months of the report being filed, and two of the products were marked as sold.

Once the products were located online, the data collectors flagged the products which violated thewebsites’ respective wildlife trade policies. Once the report was completed, we followed-up (within 15days) to check:(a) time to act between report and any action from the retailer (such as whether the product wasremoved, the seller banned, or no action taken);(b) activity and profile of the identified seller; and(c) whether any restrictions to continue selling were placed on the sellers.

To their credit, Facebook has been working with Too Rare To Wear to directly receive reports of
tortoiseshell products when found, and to date the company has been very responsive. Over the past
two years, reported products have been taken down within 24 hours in most cases. What this researchshows however, is that public reporting is not an effective way find and remove these products. We hopethat Facebook and other online retailers work to improve their reporting process, speed and accuracy ofdetermining which products are illegal tortoiseshell.

Our findings were focused on the Americas and Indonesia. However, some products on sale in the seller
profiles were identified as originating in other countries (e.g. Spain, Japan, United Kingdom and China –see further details in the results section). In the case of Facebook Marketplace, the settings were changed
multiple times to cover more countries and regions. The option of location-range was also changed up
to 161 kilometers (the maximum distance permitted) and the price range was left open to maximize thenumber of products found.

Photo Credits: Hal Brindley / TravelForWildlife.com

CITY

The prices of these products varied among platform, type of product, and their condition, ranging from
US $52 to $200. It is important to note that in most cases the products were cockfighting spurs, so theactual value for one pair is likely to vary among our sample size as prices were for large packs of spurs.
Bracelets, spurs, and jewelry were the only products registered for sale as tortoiseshell during our study.
There is a significant portion of sales that consist of complex handbags, guitar picks, tortoiseshell boxes(typically Japanese-made), hair combs, and hairpins that were found on international websites. We
searched 22 countries (Table 2) and in 13 found tortoiseshell items for sale on their platforms.
72

73

TABLE 4: TORTOISESHELL ADVERTISEMENTS FOUND IN THE AMERICASCITYSHOPS VISITED

Costa Rica

13

Panama9

Ecuador

6

Colombia

6

USA

4

Venezuela

3

Japan

2

Peru

1

Chile

1

Nicaragua

1

BrazilNone

Turks & Caicos

None

BelizeNone

GuatemalaNone

Mexico

None

Cuba

None

HondurasNone· INDONESIA:
During August and the first week of September 2019, Yayasan Penyu Indonesia surveyed 11 electronic
platforms, nine specialized trade webpages, and two social media networks (Facebook and Instagram).
In total, 199 accounts selling these products were found with a total of 1,574 advertisements (see Table.)
Rings, bracelets, earrings, hand fans and different types of hair accessories were the most popular
articles offered online. The prices of each item can fluctuate depending on the ornaments used as
decoration, such as silver or gold. A ring can cost 15,000,00 IDR (US $1), while a bracelet, hand fan, orother accessories can reach millions of rupiah. A complete list of products and the range of prices of each
item can be found in the following table. The research turned up at least 29,326 items available for sale(note: Facebook & Instagram did not have inventory numbers available.) The total value of these products
in US dollars as of Oct. 7, 2019 was roughly $34,486.

TABLE 5: TORTOISESHELL PRODUCTS FOR SALE ONLINE IN INDONESIAPLATFORMSSURVEYED# OF
ACCOUNTS# OF
ADVERTISEMENTS

# OF
ITEMS

Facebook

74

486

N/A

Instagram

58

739

N/A

Shopee.co.id

23

153

22,081

Tokopedia.com

18

109

5,502

Bukalapak.com

13

31

1,463

Carousell.com

2

14

19

Prelo.co.id

2

5

5

Kaskus Jual Beli

1

8

11

Belanjaqu.co.id

1

1

30

Blogspot.com

5

22

54

Website

2

6

161

1,574

29,326TOTALSFor the 2019 CITES report, an electronic survey was conducted during an hour per day for one month (15July to 15 August 2018) to search for the online availability of sea turtle products on commercial portals
and social media (Facebook). A total of 13 search terms were used among the languages English, Malay/
Indonesian, and Mandarin. Over the span of a month, an estimated 321 hawksbill items were found for
74

75

APPENDIX

sale, with a majority being bracelets (207) andother products including rings (31), necklaces(24), earrings (20 pairs), hair pins (19), glasses(13), and fans (4). The websites where theseproducts were primarily found were Lazada
and Shopee, as well as Tokopedia and Prelo toa lesser extent.

RESOURCES: Turtleshell Guide· VIET NAM
According to the 2019 CITES Report, ENV
conducted an online survey that found a totalof 25 individuals (unique online accounts)
selling sea turtle products online through42 different advertisements/posts. Most of
the products observed for sale were small
personal items (bracelets, fans, glasses,
fingerpicks) in addition to trophies. ENV notedthat both real and faux tortoiseshell products
are illegal to sell in the country and thesefigures represent both types of products.

Destination guides· CHINA
According to WildAid’s 2018 report Sea Turtles,
An Uncertain Future, online sales are a new
and growing platform for the sale of sea turtle
products in the country. While rarely foundon major retail websites such as Taobao and
JD.com, tortoiseshell appears much more
often on smaller online retail sites focused on
antiques or jewelry. The Shanghai Industry
and Commerce Bureau identified several
online shops selling hawksbill products as apart of a major online shopping campaign. To
avoid increasingly strict regulations, vendors
sometimes use the websites mainly to list theirproducts and take the trade private after being
contacted by interested buyers through apps
such as WeChat, making enforcement much
more difficult.

San Andrés

C O L O M B I A
K E Y I N F O R M AT I O N :27.5%

Shops found with turtleshell

I F YO U F I N D
TURTLESHELL:•••

Don’t buy from that vendor and tellthem why.
Take a photo and report it.
Buy a handmade souvenir that doesn’tcome from wildlife.

Providencia

Santa Marta

Cartagena
Rincón del Mar
Tolú
CoveñasVENEZUELA

Paciﬁc
Ocean

2,593

Caribbean
Sea

Riohacha

Bogotá

Pieces found

COLOMBIAL E G A L S TAT U S :Illegal to purchase or sell
turtle products including shell,
eggs, and meat)
Look for thislogo in Cartagena
to find Turtle Safe
Shops

BRASILECUADORPERU

T O P D E S T I N AT I O N S :•Cartagena•

Bogotá•Tolú•

San Andrés / Providencia•

Rincón del Mar•

Santa Marta•

Riohacha

REPORT TURTLESHELL
TooRareToWear.org/Report-Turtleshell

PA R T N E R S :Learn more at: www.TooRareToWear.org

Photo Credits: Karen Eckert (Bottom)

76

77

HONDURAS

N I C A R A G U A

PuertoCabezasK E Y I N F O R M AT I O N :70%

Shops found with turtleshell

C

H

I

Pieces reported

NICARAGUA•

Chinandega
CorintoLeón

Lago
Managua

Managua

Laguna Perlas

MasayaDiriamba

Jinotepe
Dolores••Corn
IslandBlueﬁelds

San Marcos

GranadaLago
Nicaragua

IF YOU FINDTURTLESHELL: FORLEGALS TAT U S :•Illegal to purchase or sell
turtle products including shell,
eggs, and meat)••

Don’t buy from that vendor and tellthem why.
Take a photo and report it.

Buy a handmade souvenir that doesn’tcome from wildlife.

A
Beijing

I F YO U F I N D
TURTLESHELL:

Atlantic
Ocean+7,000

N

Rivas

CHINA

Don’t buy from that vendor and tellthem why.
Take a photo and report it.
Buy a handmade souvenir that doesn’t

ShanghaiFujiancome from wildlife.

Guangxi

San Juan del Sur

PaciﬁcOcean

2,000 Pieces or more

100 - 1,000 Pieces

100 Pieces or less

Illegal to purchase or sell turtle products
including shell, eggs, and meat)

TO P D E S T I N AT I O N S :Managua

•

Leon

•

Masaya Market•

Granada•San Juan del Sur•

Bluefields•

Corinto•Puerto Cabezas•Corn Island•

Laguna Perlas•

Chinandega

HainanT O P D E S T I N AT I O N S :• Coastal cities in Hainan, Guangxi, Guangdong & Fujian

Photo credits: WildAid•

GuangdongLEGAL
S TAT U S :COSTA RICA
Turtleshell Pieces Found:

Jiangsu• Beijing (Pearl Market)• Shanghai• Jiangsu

REPORT
TURTLESHELLREPORT
TURTLESHELL

TooRareToWear.org/Report-Turtleshell

PA R T N E R S :TooRareToWear.org/Report-Turtleshell

Learn more at: www.TooRareToWear.org

PA R T N E R S :Learn more at: www.TooRareToWear.org

NICARAGUACOSTA R I C ACaribbean Sea

Tortuguero

K E Y I N F O R M AT I O N :San José

Shops found with turtleshell~1,000Pieces reported

IF YOU FINDTURTLESHELL: FORLEGALS TAT U S :•Illegal to purchase or sell
turtle products including shell,
eggs, and meat)••

Don’t buy from that vendor and tellthem why.
Take a photo and report it.
Buy a handmade souvenir that doesn’tcome from wildlife.

Limón

Paquera

ManuelAntonio

Hanoi

PANAMÁ

•Don’t buy from that vendor and tell them why.

•

Take a photo and report it to ENV at 1-800-1522
or email to hotline@fpt.vn. You can also report it
through our website (link at right).

•

Buy a handmade souvenir that doesn’t comefrom wildlife.

VIET NAM

Nha Trang

Paso
Canoas

PaciﬁcOcean

Ho Chi Minh City
Vung Tau

Phu Quoc

Ha TienL E G A L S TAT U S :TO P D E S T I N AT I O N S :•Puntarenas•

Manuel Antonio•

Central San Jose•

Paso Canoas•

Tortuguero•

Central Limon•

Paquera (port)

Photo credits: WildAid

Illegal to purchase or sell turtle products includingshell, eggs, and meat).

T O P D E S T I N AT I O N S :• Hanoi• Vung Tau• Ha Tien• Phu Quoc

• Ho Chi Minh City• Ha Long• Nha TrangREPORT
TURTLESHELLREPORT
TURTLESHELL

TooRareToWear.org/Report-Turtleshell

TooRareToWear.org/Report-Turtleshell

PA R T N E R S :PA R T N E R S :Learn more at: www.TooRareToWear.org

Ha Long

I F YO U F I N D TU RT L E S H E L L :COSTA RICA
Puntarenas

20%

V I E T NAM

Learn more at: www.TooRareToWear.org

INDONESIA

Muara Siberut(Mentawai)

Yogjakarta

I F YO U F I N D
TURTLESHELL:•••

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Derawan(East Kalimantan)

Gunung Sitoli

Don’t buy from that vendor and tellthem why.

Nias

Take a photo and report it.
Buy a handmade souvenir that doesn’tcome from wildlife.

Bawomatalou
SorakeAbarca, G., Urteaga, J., and Sirias, I. (2012). Diagnostico Sobre el Comercio de Subproductos de Tortugas
Marinas en el Pacifico de Nicaragua. Fauna & Flora International, Cambridge, UK. www.fauna-flora.org

Labuan Bajo
Waingapu

INDONESIA

Teluk
Dalam

Southeast
Sulawesi

Wameo Market

Kamali Beach

Bali
DalungLEGALS TAT U S :Photo credits: WildAid

Illegal to purchase or sell turtle products
including shell, eggs, and meat)

GianyarSukawati

Denpasar

T O P D E S T I N AT I O N S :•Sukawati Village (Bali)•

Denpasar (Bali)•

Dalung (Bali)•

Gianyar (Bali)•

Gunung Sitoli (Nias)•

Muara Siberut (Mentawai)•

Bawomatalou (Nias)•

Waingapu (Sumba)•

Sorake (Nias)•

Derawan (East Kalimantan)•

Teluk Dalam (Nias)•

Yogjakarta (Central Java)•

Labuan Bajo (Flores)•

Wameo Market(Southeast Sulawesi)•

Kamali Beach(Southeast Sulawesi)

REPORT TURTLESHELL
TooRareToWear.org/Report-Turtleshell

PA R T N E R :Learn more at: www.TooRareToWear.org

Barrios-Garrido, H., & Montiel-Villalobos, M. G. 2008. Diagnostic on the illegal commerce of sea turtles in
the Gulf of Venezuela. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS SEFSC(567), 45-45.
Barrios-Garrido, H., Espinoza-Rodríguez, N., Rojas-Cañizales, D., Palmar, J., Wildermann, N., MontielVillalobos, M. G., & Hamann, M. 2017. Trade of marine turtles along the Southwestern Coast of the Gulf ofVenezuela. Marine Biodiversity Records, 10(1), 1-12. doi: 10.1186/s41200-017-0115-0
Barrios-Garrido, H. 2018. Socio-economic drivers affecting marine turtle conservation status: Causes
and consequences. PhD Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Major Environmental
Sciences and Management) at College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University. Townsville,
Australia. 287 pp + XXV. https://doi.org/10.25903/5be0fecec8548
Barrios-Garrido, H., Palmar, J., Wildermann, N., Rojas-Cañizales, D., Diedrich, A., & Hamann, M. 2018.
Marine turtle presence in the traditional pharmacopoeia, cosmovision, and beliefs of Wayuú Indigenous
people. CHELONIAN CONSERVATION AND BIOLOGY, 17(2), 177-186. doi: doi:10.2744/CCB-1276.1
Boura L., Abdullah S., Nada M. 2016. New observations of sea turtle trade in Alexandria, Egypt. A reportby MEDASSET – Mediterranean Association to Save the Sea Turtles.
Bräutigam, A. and Eckert, K.L. 2006. Turning the Tide: Exploitation, Trade and Management of Marine
Turtles in the Lesser Antilles, Central America, Colombia and Venezuela. TRAFFIC International,
Cambridge, UK.
CITES Secretariat. 2019. Status, scope and trends of the legal and illegal international trade in marine
turtles, its conservation impacts, management options and mitigation priorities. Eighteenth (18th)
meeting of the CITES Conference of the Parties (Geneva, August 2019), Document CoP18 Inf. 18.
Chacón, D. (2002). Diagnóstico Sobre el Comercio de las Tortugas Marinas y sus Derivados en el Istmo
Centroamericano. Red Regional para la Conservación de las Tortugas Marinas en Centroamérica (RCA).
San José, Costa Rica.
Cheng I-J, Cheng W-h, Chan Y-T (2018). Geographically closed, yet so different: Contrasting long-term
trends at two adjacent sea turtle nesting populations in Taiwan due to different anthropogenic effects.
PLoS ONE 13(7): e0200063. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0200063
Costanza et al., 1997. The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature 387: 253260.
Donnelly, M (2008). Trade Routes for Tortoiseshell. State of the World’s Turtles, Vol 3, pages 24-25. www.
seaturtlestatus.org
Guada, H., & Sole, G. 2000. WIDECAST Plan de Acción para la Recuperación de las Tortugas Marinas deVenezuela. In A. Suarez (Ed.), Informe Técnico del PAC (Vol. 39, pp. 112+xiv). Kingston, Jamaica: UNEP
Caribbean Environment Programme.
81Harrison, E, von Weller P, and Nahill, B (2017). Endangered Souvenirs: Hawksbill Sea Turtle Products
for Sale in Latin America & the Caribbean. Too Rare To Wear. Beaverton OR, USA. https://www.
tooraretowear.org/report

Vuto S, Hamilton R, Brown C, Waldie P, Pita J, Peterson N, Hof C and Limpus C (2019). A report on turtle
harvest and trade in Solomon Islands. The Nature Conservancy, Solomon Islands. 34 p. https://www.cms.
int/iosea-turtles/sites/default/files/document/cms_iosea_mos8_inf.10.1.b_turtle-harvest-trade-solomonislands_e.pdf

Kalb, HJ and T Wibbels, compilers. 2000. Proceedings of the Nineteeth Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle
Biology and Conservation. US Dept Commerce. NOAA. Tech. Memo. NMFS-SEFSC-443, 291 p. Pages 22-25.

WWF / Dalberg. 2012. Fighting illicit wildlife traffi cking: A consultation with governments. WWF
International, Gland, Switzerland.

Kinch, J. and Burgess E. (2009). An Assessment of the Trade in Hawksbill Turtles in Papua New Guinea.
TRAFFIC Bulletin, Vol 22 No.2. http://environmentportal.in/files/Hawksbill.pdf

Yifan. L. 2018. Sea Turtles: An Uncertain Future. WildAid, San Francisco, CA, US.
Knights, P, and Birdseye, K (2016). All Creatures Great and Small: Illegal Wildlife Trade in the UnitedStates. WildAid, San Francisco, CA, US.

CONTRIBUTING ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS

Lam, T., Xu Ling, Takahashi, S., and Burgess, E.A. (2011). Market Forces: An Examination of Marine Turtle
Trade in China and Japan. TRAFFIC East Asia, Hong Kong.

The following organizations either conducted research on behalf of Too Rare To Wear for this report,
provided past reports, expertise about a specific country, reviewed sections of the report, or otherwise
contributed. We thank everyone for their work and participation to make this report possible.

Limpus, CJ, and Miller, JD (2008). Australian hawksbill turtle population dynamics project. Queensland
Environmental Protection Agency. 140 p.

· Alejandra Goyenechea / Defenders of Wildlife· Cristina Miranda, Equilibrio Azul (Ecuador)

Miller, E, McClenachan, L, Uni, Y, Phocas, G, Hagemann, M, and Van Houtan, K (2019). The historicaldevelopment of complex global trafficking networks for marine wildlife. Science Advances. American
Association for the Advancement of Science. Washington DC.

· Douglas Hendrie / Education for Nature Viet Nam· Linda Searle, EcoMar· Karla Barrientos & Cristian Ramirez, Fundacion Tortugas del Mar

Mortimer, J.A. and Donnelly, M. (2008). Marine Turtle Specialist Group 2007 IUCN Red List Status
Assessment Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata). www.iucnredlist.org/ apps/redlist/details/8005/0· Haiti Ocean Project· Dr. Hector Barrios-Garrido, GTTV

Robles, D. A. 2008. Beyond Assimilation Vs. Cultural Resistance: Wayuu Market Appropriation in Riohacha,
La Guajira, Colombia. (Master of Arts), University of Kansas.

· Dr. Jess Williams

Rodríguez, J. P. 2000. Impact of the Venezuelan economic crisis on wild populations of animals andplants. Biological Conservation, 96(2), 151-159. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3207(00)00061-6· Dr. Julia Azanza, InSTEC· Dr. Joanna Alfaro, ProDelphinus (Peru)· Karen Stone, Vava’u Environmental Protection Association (Tonga)· Keith Swindle, US Fish & Wildlife Service

Sánchez-Mercado, A., Asmüssen, M., Rodríguez-Clark, K. M., Rodríguez, J. P., & Jedrzejewski, W. 2016.
Using spatial patterns in illegal wildlife uses to reveal connections between subsistence hunting andtrade. Conservation Biology.

· Latin American Sea Turtles· Lindsey West, Sea Sense· Margaret von Saenger / Panatortugas

Sea Sense. 2012. The Marine Curio Trade in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

· Mark Gibson & Niamh Vaughan / Nurturing · Nature Trinidad & Tobago

Stiles, D. 2008. An assessment of the marine turtle products trade in Viet Nam. TRAFFIC Southeast Asia,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

· Marydele Donnelly, Sea Turtle Conservancy

Viajeros en Peligro (2014). WWF-Cuba, Havana, Cuba.

· Medasset· Masayuki Sakamoto, Japan Tiger & Elephant Fund
· Dr. Nicholas Pilcher

Van Dijk, P.P. and Shepherd, C.R. (2004). Shelled out? A Snapshot of Bekko Trade in Selected Locations inSouth-east Asia. TRAFFIC Southeast Asia.

· Dr. Stephen Dunbar, ProTECTOR· Steve Blake, WildAid

Villate, R. 2010. The ecology and commerce of sea turtles at the Colombian Guajira. Saarbrucken,
Germany: Lambert Academic Publishing.

· Hiltrud Cordes, Bayu Sandi, & Joana Nicolau, Turtle Foundation / Yayasan Penyu
Indonesia
82· TT group83