Hawksbill turtle poaching to be fought with DNA technology

Project will trace tortoiseshell products in shops back to where they were poached

Lisa Cox

Mon 12 Nov 2018 17.00 GMTLast modified on Mon 12 Nov 2018 17.02 GMT

The population of hawksbill turtles has declined more than 75% in the Pacific Ocean in the past century. Photograph: Ruby Blunt

Researchers will use DNA technology to try to stop the illegal poaching of hawsksbill turtles for use in tortoiseshell products.

The population of the critically endangered species has declined by more than 75% in the Pacific Ocean in the past century and a key threat to the species’ survival is illegal trade.

Hawksbills are the only sea turtles hunted for their shells, despite international trade in hawksbill products being banned more than 20 years ago.

Scientists and researchers from WWF and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the US have begun a three-year project that will trace tortoiseshell products such as earrings and bracelets sold in market stalls and specialty shops back to where they were poached.

They’ll do this by DNA-testing both products and live turtles throughout the Asia-Pacific region to create a DNA map that will pinpoint where the turtles had come from and identify the hawksbill populations most at risk.

“The major part of the project is looking at how we can trace turtles from sale back to source,” WWF’s Christine Madden Hof, the project manager for the study, said.

“WWF is going to work with multiple partners across the region to work out where the turtles are poached. We’re mapping where they come from to what products they’ve been sold into.”

Similar technology has been used in the past to study the trade in rhino horn.

Hawksbill products are typically found in countries throughout Asia such as China, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

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