Estimates of illegal wildlife trade vary significantly and are often based on incomplete datasets, inferences from CITES permits or customs seizures. As a result, annual global estimates of illegal wildlife trade can vary by several billions of US dollars. Translating these figures into species extraction rates is equally challenging, and estimating illegal take accurately is not achievable for many species. Due to their nesting strategies that allow for census data collection, sea turtles offer an exception. On the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, three sea turtle species (leatherback, Dermochelys coriacea; green, Chelonia mydas; and hawksbill, Eretmochelys imbricata) are exploited by poachers. Despite the consumption of turtle eggs and meat being illegal, they are consumed as a cultural food source and seasonal treat. Conservation programmes monitor nesting beaches, collect abundance data and record poaching events. Despite the availability of robust long-term datasets, quantifying the rate of poaching has yet to be undertaken. Using data from the globally important nesting beach, Tortuguero, as well as beaches Playa Norte and Pacuare on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, we modelled the spatial and temporal distribution of poaching of the three sea turtle species. Here, we present data from 2006 to 2019 on a stretch of coastline covering c.37 km. We identified poaching hotspots that correlated with populated areas. While the poaching hotspots persisted over time, we found poaching is declining at each of our sites. However, we urge caution when interpreting this result as the impact of poaching varies between species. Given their low abundance on these beaches, the poaching pressure on leatherback and hawksbill turtles is far greater than the impact on the abundant green turtles. We attribute the decline in poaching to supply-side conservation interventions in place at these beaches. Finally, we highlight the value of data sharing and collaborations between conservation NGOs.
Various field methods have been used globally in an attempt to understand and quantify plastic pollution. However, in regions, such as the west coast of Scotland, sparse populations, combined with complex coastlines of numerous islands, sea lochs and headlands, has resulted in limited field data. The Clyde Sea is the most populated and industrialised region on the west coast of Scotland and therefore a potential source of land-based plastic litter to the less populated coast to the north. This study first presents an analysis of Marine Conservation Society (MCS) citizen-science beach-clean data, from 1994 to 2019, revealing spatial patterns between beach-clean sites. Plastic litter was categorised into land, marine and unknown sources, with the most common items in these three categories being crisp packets, fishing rope and fragments, respectively. On the west coast of Scotland there is on average 380.3 ± 419.9 plastic items per 100 m of coast, with the site average number of items recovered ranging from 1–2,355 per 100 m of coast. To simulate marine plastic litter movement from the Clyde Sea to a defined northwest model sub-area, an unstructured-grid hydrodynamic model was coupled with a particle tracking model subject to currents, diffusion, and wind. Three coastal boundary conditions were used to compare transport paths with or without particle beach resuspension, and for the resuspending cases, with or without a distinction between coastal type (retentive beaches versus reflective rocky coasts). Of the total released particles, the percentage that beached within the model sub-area, after a 1-year model run, ranged between 45.7% and 88.3% depending on the coastal boundary condition. The Clyde Sea was found to be a potential source of beached land-based plastic litter to the north, as on average, 6.8% (range: 2.9%–11.7%) of particles exited the Clyde Sea, crossed a defined northern boundary, and beached on the northwest coast. Both hydrodynamic and particle tracking models were tested, and the varying boundary conditions were compared to investigate holistic methodologies to better understand plastic pollution.
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