Barbados

CoordinatorsProjectsHelpRegulationsPublicationsLearn More

Prof. Dr. Julia Horrocks
Director
Barbados Sea Turtle Project
Department of Biological & Chemical Sciences University of the West Indies
Cave Hill Campus (POB 64)
Bridgetown
Barbados BB11000
Tel: (246) 417-4320
julia.horrocks@cavehill.uwi.edu
Facebook page

The Barbados Sea Turtle Project (Initiated in 1987)

Objectives: The overall goal of the project is to bring about the recovery of depleted populations of sea turtles in Barbados. This involves:

Donations to the Barbados Sea Turtle Project are GREATLY appreciated
and can be sent to,

The Barbados Sea Turtle Project
Dept. of Biological and Chemical Sciences
University of the West Indies,
Cave Hill Campus,
St. Michael, Barbados, West Indies.

Excerpted from:
Bräutigam, A. and K. L. Eckert. 2006. Turning the Tide: Exploitation, Trade and Management of Marine Turtles in the Lesser Antilles, Central America, Colombia and Venezuela. TRAFFIC International, Cambridge, UK.

The Fisheries Regulation Act of 1904 consolidated all other fisheries acts into one piece of legislation. The turtle preservation section of this Act made it unlawful to:

(1) take or capture, or attempt to take or capture, any turtle or turtle egg on the beach or within one hundred yards of the shore;
(2) set, or attempt to set, any net or seine or other instrument for the purpose of taking, capturing or fishing for turtles within 100 yards of the shore; and
(3) buy, sell or expose for sale any turtle weighing less than 30 lb (13.6 kg).
The penalties for contravention of these provisions in 1992 were fines of 100 Barbados dollars (BBD100) and seizure of any turtles caught and any gear used, including boats (Horrocks, 1992).

These provisions remained in effect until implementation of the Fisheries Act (1993), which provided for the management and development of fisheries and protection of marine turtles, through the Fisheries (Management) Regulations of 1998. These established an indefinite ban on the exploitation of marine turtles and also prohibited the possession, purchase and sale of marine turtles and products. Export is only permitted for research/scientific purposes. Penalties for violations of these prohibitions are a fine of BBD50 000 and/or two years’ imprisonment (MPDE, 2002).

According to the Ministry of Physical Development and Environment (MPDE) (MPDE, 2002), other legislation that provides for the conservation of marine turtles includes the:

• Marine Boundaries and Jurisdiction Act of 1979, which identifies marine conservation officers to be police, fisheries officials and Coast Guard and Defence Force personnel;
• Defence Act of 1979, which assigns responsibility to the Barbados Coast Guard for the enforcement of laws relating to fisheries, territorial waters, beach mining, and other activities; and
• Coastal Zone and Management Act (1998–39), which provides a statutory basis for coastal management and planning in Barbados and includes specific provisions for protection of resources, such as from destruction of corals and degradation of the foreshore, and for the designation of marine protected areas and marine parks.

The import and export of wildlife products is controlled by the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora Act, 2006. This Act gives the CITES Convention the force of law in Barbados.

Bass, A. (1999) Genetic Analysis to Elucidate the Natural History and Behavior of Hawksbill Turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) in the Wider Caribbean: a Review and Re-Analysis, Chelonian Conservation and Biology, 1999, 3(2):195–199.

Bass et al. (2006) Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) Foraging and Nesting Aggregations in the Caribbean and Atlantic: Impact of Currents and Behavior on Dispersal. Journal of Heredity 2006:97(4):346–354, doi:10.1093/jhered/esl004

Beggs, J., B. Krueger and J. Horrocks. 2001. Barbados Sea Turtle Project: Nesting Beach Monitoring Programme Procedures Manual. Barbados Sea Turtle Project, University of the West Indies. 35 pp. + app.

Barbados Sea Turtle Project – www.barbadosseaturtles.org

Loggerhead	I, F?
Green	IN, F
Leatherback	N
Hawksbill	N, F
Kemp’s Ridley	A
Olive Ridley	A