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Biology Sea Turtle

In: Science

Submitted By alicepengelly
Words 565
Pages 3
[1] http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/turtles/green.htm website, government website so will be reliable
[2] http://www.iotn.org/iotn-15-6.php
[3] http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2013/10/29/Human-impact-on-sea-turtles-shows-up-in-studies-of-genetic-diversity/UPI-16391383084837/#ixzz2jFew9cIu
Biological solutions
The Indian Ocean - South-East Asian (IOSEA) Marine Turtle Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) protects 6 marine turtles including the green sea turtle. It is a non-binding intergovernmental agreement that aims to protect, conserve, and recover sea turtles and their habitats in the Indian Ocean and South-East Asia region. [1] This includes the turtles on the coast of Nellore.

Graph showing total number of nests protected in Nellore district from 2008 to 2012 February [2]
The number of green sea turtles is particularly important for creating a diverse ecosystem since they are the only herbivorous marine turtle and so they transfer nutrients from nutrient-rich areas like sea grass beds to nutrient-poor ecosystems like nesting beaches. This is why many organisations, such as the Inter-American Convention (IAC) for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles, trys to increase their numbers and diversity, so they prevent the sea turtle’s extinction and they can continue to play their beneficial role to their ecosystem. The IAC is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the legal framework for countries in the Americas and the Caribbean to take actions for the benefit of sea turtles. [1]
Between 1960 and 1990 the green sea turtle’s eggs were commercially harvested along the coast of
Mexico. This resulted in the recent loss of genetic diversity. [3] Genetic diversity is fundamental for the green sea turtle’s population to survive, since some alleles may that may be crucial for survival in harsh conditions or after natural disasters. If these alleles are lost after the reduction of population and therefore loss of diversity, the species could become extinct because they are unable to adapt to the new conditions simply because they don’t have the genetics to do so.
In the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) have required measures to reduce sea turtle bycatch in pelagic longline, mid-Atlantic gillnet, Chesapeake Bay pound net, and southeast shrimp and flounder trawl fisheries, such as gear modifications, changes to fishing practices and time/ area closures
They have worked closely with the shrimp trawl fishing industry to develop turtle excluder devices (TEDs) to reduce the mortality of sea turtles incidentally captured in shrimp trawl gear. TEDs that are large enough to exclude even the largest sea turtles are now required in shrimp trawl nets. [1]
Are the Biological solutions appropriate?
The TEDs are appropriate for reducing the deaths of the green sea turtles and they then can allow the turtles to reproduce further, which is another reason why they are appropriate for increasing their population.
Organisations to increase and protect green sea turtle populations in specific different locations rather than just as a whole are likely to increase the genetic diversity by not letting alleles from different areas become lost.

HUMAN IMPLICATIONS
It is difficult to enforce TED compliance as TEDs can reduce the efficiency of the net system, resulting in a loss of some of the catch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_excluder_device NOT RELIABLE BC WIKIPEDIA AND ANYONE CAN EDIT THE INFORAMTION

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