Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network (WIDECAST)

  • About
    • Vision & Approach
    • Founder
    • Contact Us
  • Network
    • Country Coordinators
    • Annual Meeting
  • Biology
    • Basic Biology
    • Pictorial Key
    • Taxonomic Key
      • Sea Turtle Hatchlings
    • Terminology
  • Management
    • Nesting Beach Atlas
    • Population Monitoring
    • Regional Tagging Centre
    • Threats and Solutions
    • Toolkits
  • Conservation
    • IUCN Red List
    • Threats and Solutions
      • Overview of Threats
      • Beach Driving
      • Beach Litter and Debris
      • Beach Restoration
      • Beach Sand Mining
      • Beach Stabilization
      • Beachfront Lighting
      • Personal Watercraft
      • Climate Change
      • Construction Setbacks
      • Direct Harvest
      • Fisheries Bycatch
      • Illness and Injury
      • International Trade
      • Loss of Coral Reefs
      • Coastal Vegetation
      • Marine Vegetation
      • Marine Debris
      • Beach Obstacles
    • Caribbean Legislation
    • International Treaties
  • Medicine
  • Ecotourism
    • Why Ecotourism?
    • Must-See Sites!
    • Establishing a Program
    • Training and Resources
  • Library
    • WIDECAST Publications
    • National Recovery Plans
    • Educators
    • WATS
    • NOAA Archive
  • Support
    • Take Action
    • Donate
    • Shop
You are here: Home / Welcome to the World of Caribbean Sea Turtles! / The WIDECAST Network / Antigua & Barbuda

Antigua & Barbuda

CoordinatorsRegulationsPublicationsLearn More
Tricia Lovell
Senior Fisheries Officer
fisheries Division
Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Fisheries and Barbuda Affairs
Fisheries Complex, Pt Wharf
St. John’s, Antigua
Tel/Fax: (268) 462-1372
Cell: (268) 720-5910
Tricia.Lovell@ab.gov.ag
Facebook page
Arica Hill
Executive Director
Environmental Awareness
Group
P.O. Box 2103
St. John’s, Antigua
Cell: (268) 462-6236
arica.eag@gmail.com
Facebook page
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.

Show more...
Until 1990, exploitation of marine turtles in Antigua and Barbuda was governed by the Turtle Ordinance of 1927. This law established: a four-month closed season from 1 June to 30 September for all marine turtle species, with the exception of the Loggerhead; a minimum size limit of 20 lb (nine kilogrammes) in weight; and penalties, including a fine of “10 pounds”, for violations. Recognition that these requirements were inadequate to prevent declines in marine turtle numbers led to the adoption of the Fisheries Regulations of 1990 (Section 21 of The Fisheries Act, 1983), which provide for:

• “until otherwise declared,” a six-month closed season from 1 March to 31 August, during which it is illegal to fish for, take, sell, purchase or possess any turtle or turtle part;
• a complete prohibition of:
– disturbance, take, sale, purchase or possession of any turtle eggs or interference with any turtle nest;
– take, sale, purchase or possession of any undersized turtle;
– sell or purchase of shell of any undersized turtle.
• minimum size limits, “undersized” turtles being:
(a) Leatherbacks weighing less than 350 lb (158.75 kg);
(b) Green Turtles weighing less than 180 lb (81.65 kg);
(c) Hawksbill Turtles weighing less than 85 lb (38.50 kg);
(d) Loggerheads weighing less than 160 lb (72.57 kg).

The Regulations further prohibit the use of spear guns for fishing in Antigua and Barbuda without prior written permission from the Chief Fisheries Officer. Any person convicted of contravening any of the provisions of the Regulations is liable to a fine of 5000 East Caribbean dollars (XCD5000)or 12 months’ imprisonment. In addition, any fishing vessel (together with its gear, stores and cargo) and any vehicle, fishing gear, net or other fishing appliance used in the commission of the offence may be forfeited (Section 33 of the Fisheries Act, 1983).

This legislation has recently been updated with the assistance of the FAO and includes new and more stringent measures for the management and conservation of marine turtle populations in Antigua and Barbuda. The new draft regulations prohibit the capture/taking of all marine turtles, turtle eggs and the disturbance of turtles found on shore. The result is a moratorium on the capture of marine turtles, but for which the Minister may still declare open seasons. The draft regulations also set maximum (rather than minimum) size limits, “a measure that is set in place to protect mature females” (T. Lovell, Fisheries Division, in litt., 12 April 2005).

According to the Fisheries Division (2002), although Antigua and Barbuda became a Party to CITES in 1997, there is currently no legislation to implement the Convention. The CITES National Legislation Project, initiated in 1992, assessed Antigua and Barbuda’s CITES-implementing legislation as “believed generally not to meet the requirements for the implementation of CITES” (Anon., 2002) and assigned a deadline of 30 June 2004 for enactment of adequate implementing legislation. This deadline was subsequently extended and, by the 53rd meeting of the CITES Standing Committee (27 June–1 July 2005), Antigua and Barbuda had submitted a CITES Legislation Plan and draft legislation to the CITES Secretariat for comments; the Standing Committee will review legislative progress at its 54th meeting (scheduled for late 2006) (Anon., 2005a and b).

Click here to download a full bibliography for Antigua and Barbuda

Annual Workshop on Sea Turtle Conservation and Biology. Compiled by S. A. Eckert, K. L. Eckert, and T.H. Richardson. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFC-232. pp. 263-266.

Andrews, K.M., A. Donaldson, J.I. Richardson and J.P. Schmidt. 2003. Initial realities in the analysis of ARGOS satellite telemetry data. In Proceedings of the Twenty-Second Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation. Compiled by J.A. Seminoff. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-503, pp.52-53

Bass, A.L. 1999. Genetic analysis to elucidate the natural history and behavior of hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) in the Wider Caribbean: a review and reanalysis. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 3(2):195-199.

Show more...
Environmental Awareness Group. 2007. Antigua Sea Turtle Monitoring Report for 2007: Prepared for the Project “Conserving Antigua and Barbuda’s Sea Turtles” of the Environmental Awareness Group. EAG. St. John’s Antigua. [Unpublished Report].

Fuller, J.E., K. L. Eckert, and J. I. Richardson. 1992. WIDECAST Sea Turtle Recovery Action Plan for Antigua and Barbuda (Karen L. Eckert, Editor). CEP Technical Report No. 17. UNEP Caribbean Environment Programme, Kingston, Jamaica. 90 p.

Glen, F., and Mrosovsky, N., 2004. Antigua revisited: the impact of climate change on sand and nest temperatures at a hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) nesting beach. Global Change Biology 10:2036-2045.

Joseph, D., J.E. Fuller and R. Camacho. (1984). The National Report for Antigua and Barbuda. Pp. 12–29. In: P. Bacon et al. (Eds). Proceedings of the Western Atlantic Turtle Symposium, 17–22 July 1983, San José, Costa Rica, III, Appendix 7. University of Miami Press, Florida.

Kendall, W. L., and Bjorkland, R., K., 2001. Using open robust design models to estimate temporary emigration from capture-recapture data. Biometrics 57:1113-1122.

Muenz, T.K. and K.M. Andrews. 2004. The reconciliation of hawksbill habitat with vegetation islands on Long Island, Antigua, West Indies. In: Proceedings of the Twenty-Fourth Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation.

McIntosh, I., Goodman, K., & Parrish-Ballentine, A., 2003, Tagging and Nesting Research on Hawksbill Turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) at Jumby Bay, Long Island, Antigua, West Indies, Annual Report Prepared for the Jumby Bay Island Company, Ltd.

Munhofen, J., Ramirez, S., 2006, Tagging and Nesting Research on Hawksbill Turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) at Jumby Bay, Long Island, Antigua, West Indies, Annual Report Prepared for the Jumby Bay Island Company, Ltd.

Parrish A., Goodman, K., 2002, Tagging and Nesting Research on Hawksbill Turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) at Jumby Bay, Long Island, Antigua, West Indies, Annual Report Prepared for the Jumby Bay Island Company, Ltd.

Richardson, J. I., D. B. Hall, P. A. Mason, K. M. Andrews, R. Bjorkland, Y. Cai and R. Bell. 2006. Eighteen years of saturation tagging data reveal a significant increase in nesting hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) on Long Island, Antigua. Animal Conservation 9(2006):302-307.

Richardson, J.I., R. Bell, and T. H. Richardson. 1999. Population ecology and demographic implications drawn from an 11-year study of nesting hawksbill turtles, Eretmochelys imbricata, at Jumby Bay, Long Island, Antigua, West Indies. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 3(2):244-250.

Stapleton, S., 2004, Tagging and Nesting Research on Hawksbill Turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) at Jumby Bay, Long Island, Antigua, West Indies, Annual Report Prepared for the Jumby Bay Island Company, Ltd.

Stapleton, S., Stapleton, C., 2005, Tagging and Nesting Research on Hawksbill Turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) at Jumby Bay, Long Island, Antigua, West Indies, Annual Report Prepared for the Jumby Bay Island Company, Ltd.

The Jumby Bay Hawksbill Sea Turtle Project
Tourism Website
Antigua & Barbuda Environmental Division
Environmental Awareness Group
Fisheries Division
Government of Antigua & Barbuda
Antigua on the Environmental Awareness Group’s Turtle Project blog

Click to open a larger map

Flag_of_Antigua_and_Barbudasmall
1 - Antigua - Dc hatchling in hand - (c) Jenny Freestone

2 - Antigua - Dc hatch - (c) Jenny Freestone

3 - Antigua - Ei nesting at Jumby Bay - (c) Jen Munhofen

4 - Antigua - training at Jumby Bay - (c) M Gilkes

Loggerhead I
Green N, F
Leatherback N
Hawksbill N, F
Kemp’s Ridley A
Olive Ridley A
N=Nesting; F=Foraging; IN=Infrequent Nesting; IF=Infrequent Foraging; I=Infrequent (further data unavailable); A=Absent

Dow et al 2007

Antigua and Barbuda National Nesting Beach Atlas

Working together to realize a future where all inhabitants of the Wider Caribbean Region, human and sea turtle alike, can live together in balance.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram

Home  -   Contact Us  -   Site Map  -   © 2021 WIDECAST