Decline of the Sea Turtles -- Copyright -- Preface -- Contents -- Executive Summary -- LIFE HISTORIES OF SEA TURTLES -- SEA TURTLE DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE -- SEA TURTLE POPULATION TRENDS -- NATURAL MORTALITY OF SEA TURTLES AND REPRODUCTIVE VALUE OF LIFE STAGES -- SEA TURTLE MORTALITY ASSOCIATED WITH HUMAN ACTIVITIES -- The Shrimp Fishery -- Other Fisheries -- Dredging -- Boat Collisions -- Oil Platforms -- Plastics and Debris -- SEA TURTLE CONSERVATION -- Eggs, Hatchlings, and Nesting Females -- Nesting Habitat -- Headstarting -- Captive Breeding -- Artificial Imprinting -- Juveniles, Subadults, and Breeders -- Prohibition of Intentional Harvest -- Reduction of Unintentional Bycatch -- Dredging -- Collisions with Boats -- Oil-Rig Removal -- Power Plants -- Plastics and Debris -- Education -- Research -- CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS -- Conclusions -- Recommendations -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Biology -- KEMP'S RIDLEY -- General Description -- Population Distribution and Habitats -- Foraging Areas -- Nesting Areas -- Food Habits -- Reproduction and Growth -- Major Threats to Survival -- LOGGERHEAD -- General Description -- Population Distribution and Habitats -- Foraging Areas -- Nesting Areas -- Food Habits -- Reproduction and Growth -- Major Threats to Survival -- GREEN TURTLE -- General Description -- Population Distribution and Habitats -- Foraging Areas -- Nesting Areas -- Food Habits -- Reproduction and Growth -- Major Threats to Survival -- HAWKSBILL -- General Description -- Population Distribution and Habitats -- Foraging Areas -- Nesting Areas -- Food Habits -- Reproduction and Growth -- Major Threats to Survival -- LEATHERBACK -- General Description -- Population Distribution and Habitats -- Foraging Areas -- Nesting Areas -- Food Habits -- Reproduction and Growth -- Major Threats to Survival -- OLIVE RIDLEY -- 3 Population Trends.

KEMP'S RIDLEY -- LOGGERHEAD -- GREEN TURTLE -- HAWKSBILL -- LEATHERBACK -- SUMMARY -- 4 Distribution of Sea Turtles in U.S. Waters -- SOURCES OF INFORMATION -- Nesting Distribution -- Pelagic Aerial Surveys -- Sea Turtle Strandings -- DISTRIBUTION -- Nesting -- Aerial Surveys -- Strandings -- ONSHORE, OFFSHORE, AND DEPTH DISTRIBUTION -- SUMMARY -- 5 Natural Mortality and Critical Life Stages -- BIOTIC SOURCES OF MORTALITY -- Predation -- Eggs and Hatchlings on the Beach -- Hatchlings as They Leave the Beach -- Larger Juveniles and Adults in the Water -- Nesting Females on the Beach -- Diseases and Parasites -- Other Nesting Turtles -- Vegetation -- ABIOTIC SOURCES OF MORTALITY -- Erosion, Accretion, and Tidal Inundation -- Heavy Rains -- Thermal Stress -- QUANTITATIVE STUDIES OF NATURAL MORTALITY -- SUMMARY -- 6 Sea Turtle Mortality Associated with Human Activities -- MORTALITY OF SEA TURTLE EGGS AND HATCHLINGS -- Beach Erosion and Accretion -- Beach Armoring -- Beach Nourishment -- Artificial Lighting -- Beach Cleaning -- Increased Human Presence -- Recreational Beach Equipment -- Beach Vehicles -- Exotic Dune and Beach Vegetation -- MORTALITY OF SEA TURTLE JUVENILES AND ADULTS -- Shrimp Fishing -- Description of the Fishery -- Distribution and Intensity of the Fishery -- Seasonal Changes in Stranding, Shrimp-Fishing Effort, and Turtle Abundance -- Strong Evidence of Shrimp Trawling as an Agent of Sea Turtle Mortality -- Relation Between Sea Turtle Mortality in Trawls and Tow Time -- Coincidence of Opening and Closing of Shrimp Season with Changes in Turtle Stranding on Adjacent ... -- Relation Between Loggerhead Populations and Shrimping Effort -- Quantification of Sea-Turtle Mortality in Shrimp Trawls -- Relation Between Sea Turtle Stranding and Spatiotemporal Pattern of Shrimp Trawling in North Carolina.

Other Fisheries, Discarded Or Lost Gear, And Marine Debris -- New England -- New York Bight -- Mid-Atlantic And Chesapeake Bay -- South Atlantic -- Gulf Coast -- Dredging -- Collisions With Boats -- Petroleum-Platform Removal -- Entrainment Of Sea Turtles In Power-Plant Intake Pipes -- Directed Take -- Toxicology -- Ingestion Of Plastics And Other Debris -- SUMMARY -- 7 Conservation Measures -- RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVE OF THE RECOVERY PLAN -- DESCRIPTION OF CONSERVATION MEASURES -- Increasing Or Maintaining The Supply Of Sea Turtle Eggs And Hatchlings -- Increasing Protection Of Critical Nesting Habitats -- Land Use -- Erosion -- Beach Armoring -- Beach Nourishment -- Increasing Protection of Nesting Adults, Eggs, and Hatchlings -- Artificial Lighting -- Beach Cleaning, Pedestrian and Vehicular Traffic, and Recreational Equipment -- Experimental Conservation Practices -- Headstarting -- Captive Breeding -- Artificial Imprinting -- REDUCING ADULT AND SUBADULT MORTALITY ASSOCIATED WITH HUMAN ACTIVITIES -- Intentional Harvest of Sea Turtles -- Incidental Capture of Sea Turtles -- Shrimp-Fishing Operations -- Controlling Trawling Effort -- Manipulating Trawl Selectivity and Efficiency -- Tow-Time Limits -- Other Commercial Fishing Activities -- Dredging, Boat Collisions, And Oil-Rig Removal -- Dredging -- COLLISIONS WITH BOATS -- Oil-Rig Removal -- Power Plant Entrainment -- Ingestion of Plastics, Debris, And Toxic Substances -- EDUCATION AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER -- Education -- Ted Technology Transfer -- CONSERVATION EFFORTS IN OTHER JURISDICTIONS -- Mexico -- Other International Concerns -- 8 Conclusions And Recommendations -- CONCLUSIONS -- RECOMMENDATIONS -- Conservation Measures -- Reducing Incidental Deaths Of Juvenile And Adult Sea Turtles -- Reducing Directed Harvest Of Sea Turtles -- Reproduction-Related Protection -- Research.

Sea Turtle Biology -- Management Techniques -- References -- Appendixes -- Appendix A Endangered Species Act Amendments of 1988 -- Title I-Endangered Species Act Amendments of 1988 -- Appendix B Interim Report -- Background -- Geographic Distribution -- Index of Population Size -- Long-Term Population Trends -- Causes of Mortauty -- Protective Measures -- Legal Protection -- Protection at the Nesting Colony -- Turtle Excluder Devices (Teds) -- Headstarting -- Conclusions -- References -- Committee On Sea Turtle Conservation -- Staff -- Board On Environmental Studies and Toxicology -- Staff -- Board On Biology -- Commission On Life Sciences -- Appendix C Illustrations of Turtle Excluder Devices -- Appendix D Aerial Survey Data Of Sea Turtles In Fishing Zones -- Appendix E Sea Turtle Stranding Data -- Appendix F Shrimp Fishing Effort, 1987-1988 -- Appendix G Annotated Chronological List of Educational Efforts on Teds for Fishermen by the National Marine Fisheries Service -- 1977 -- 1980 -- 1981 -- 1981-1982 -- 1982` -- 1983 -- 1984 -- 1985 -- 1986 -- 1987 -- 1988 -- Appendix H Annotated Chronological List of Educational Efforts on Teds for Fishermen by Sea Grant -- 1981 -- Texas Sea Grant -- 1982 -- 1984 -- Alabama Sea Grant -- North Carolina Sea Grant -- 1985 -- Alabama Sea Grant -- Texas Sea Grant -- 1986 -- Alabama Sea Grant -- Georgia Sea Grant -- Texas Sea Grant -- 1987 -- Florida Sea Grant -- Georgia Sea Grant -- Louisiana Sea Grant -- Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium -- North Carolina Sea Grant -- South Carolina Sea Grant -- Texas Sea Grant -- 1988 -- Florida Sea Grant -- Georgia Sea Grant -- Mississippi Sea Grant -- North Carolina Sea Grant -- South Carolina Sea Grant -- Texas Sea Grant -- 1989 -- Alabama Sea Grant -- Georgia Sea Grant -- Louisiana Sea Grant -- Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium -- North Carolina Sea Grant.

Texas Sea Grant -- Appendix I Newsletters and Notices Pertaining to Teds -- North Carolina Sea Grant -- 1981 -- 1988 -- 1989 -- Florida Sea Grant -- 1987 -- 1989 -- Alabama Sea Grant -- 1983 -- 1985 -- 1986 -- 1987 -- 1988 -- 1989 -- Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium -- 1987 -- 1988 -- Mississippi Sea Grant -- 1987 -- 1988 -- 1989 -- Louisiana Sea Grant -- 1987 -- 1989 -- Louisiana Shrimp Association -- Georgia Sea Grant -- 1987 -- 1988 -- 1989 -- South Carolina Wildlife and Marine Resources -- 1986 -- 1989 -- Texas Sea Grant -- 1988 -- Center for Marine Conservation -- 1982 -- 1989 -- National Marine Fisheries Service -- 1984 -- 1985 -- 1988 -- 1989 -- Date unknown -- Washington, D.C. -- 1989 -- South Atlantic Fishery Management Council -- 1989 -- Biographies of Committee Members -- Index.