Illegal take of marine turtles can assume various forms, from poaching of animals and eggs on nesting beaches to illegal take of animals at sea.   Typically, green and leatherback turtles are hunted for their meat; the hawksbill turtle is hunted for its carapace as the raw material for craftwork; while the eggs of loggerhead and olive ridley turtles are considered a delicacy.  Turtle meat consumption reportedly occurs in 75% of IOSEA Signatory States, while trade in shell products seems to be predominant in East Asian countries.  Whereas numerous investigations in this regard have been unde

IOSEA Species Assessment: Volume II

For ease of comparison, the following text is structured using the same headings of the 7-page synthesis section of the 2006 Assessment of the conservation status of the leatherback turtle in the Indian Ocean and South-East Asia, compiled by Hamann et al. , which has been reproduced in  Appendix 1. Blue-coloured blocks interspersed throughout the document contain text extracted verbatim from the original report, reflecting the situation as it was known in 2006. All of the other text in this document represents more recent information that has been compiled for this update.