Green turtle  (Chelonia mydas)

Green turtles are overharvested in many areas for both their meat and eggs (11). The meat is highly prized and the cartilage underneath the plastron (known as 'calipee') is used in the production of turtle soup (8). In addition, these reptiles are affected by a number of incidental threats, including fisheries bycatch, habitat degradation, and disease. Building construction, beach armouring and sand extraction are responsible for degradation of nesting habitat, while light pollution at nesting beaches fatally attracts emerging hatchlings away from the sea. In the marine environment, increased effluent, over harvesting of algae, and contamination from coastal development all negatively affect the quality of foraging habitat. In particular, the degradation of marine habitats is implicated in the increase in in fibropapillomas; fibrous tumours that can grow on almost any part of a turtles body, impeding movement or sight, and often leading to death (1).

The green turtle is protected by a raft of international legislation including the prohibition of international trade through its listing on Appendix I of CITES (1) (3). The result of numerous designations and agreements has been to notably reduce the intensity of direct impacts on the green turtle and, in particular, the rate at which eggs and adults are harvested. Nonetheless, human impacts on the green turtle are still a significant concern, with the lack of effective monitoring of fisheries responsible for considerable direct and indirect mortality, while uncontrolled development continues to degrade the ecosystems that the green turtle depends on (1).