Adult Leatherbacks are strictly protected on the nest beach, but virtually all eggs laid are gathered by licensed egg-collectors. The Fisheries Department buys back a proportion of the annual egg harvest for transplantation into the hatchery at Rantau Abang. The project is currently incubating about 10 per cent of the eggs laid on the beach. Fees paid by egg-collectors for their license contribute towards the cost of running the scheme. The project may serve to some extent as a model for other areas and species, in that it combines species conservation through preserving adults and a proportion of the annual egg output, with local utilisation of eggs as an important and valued food resource.
Tourism provides a further economic benefit.
However, it is suspected that the percentage of eggs bought for incubation may be too small to ensure the continued survival of the population at current levels. The largest of the marine turtles. Groombridge, B. 1982.