r.-"-M/ 1u-t"{ '/o t 22. Marineturtles in the Seychelles and adjacent territories J. Frazier Introduction History Besides the Coco de Mer, Giant Tortoises and gracious women. the Seychelles Islands have been famous for their marine turtles. This fame rose rapidly' during the colonisation of The Islands by the French in the late 1700's (Fauvel 1909, Lionnet 1972:66). Throughout the end of the last century. and the first half of the present. the Seychelles were world renowned for their turtles. being a major source of both Green Turtles (Cheloniu mt'das (L.)) and Hawksbill (tortoise- shell) Turtles (Eretmochell,s imbricata (L.)) However. this reputation has been continually checkered from the early years by pleas for rationalmanagement. 'doomsday' predictions. and finally, massive and widespread declines in thc numbers of turtlcs. The rcnown is now only historic - the Seychelles turtle situation no longerillustrates the boundless value of natural resources. but the urgent need to manage them (Frazier. 1979). Although the turtle industry has come and goneJeaving only a vestige of former turtle populations.little is known of the biologv of these animals.This has come about despite the fact that Seychelles had onc of the earliest of comprehensive studies and management proposals on marine turrles, that of Hornell (1927). Today, the major concern is for the rehabilitation of the turrles. Studiesof marine turtles in the Seychelles Two valuablereviewsof the historv of marine turtles are bl,Parsons (1962.Ig72), and both of thesetreat.the Seychelles in detail. Separarely. they'deal with the two species of turtle most important to The Territory; the Green Turtle and the Hawksbill Turtle. Many accounts of explorersand colonists in the Seychelles are presented by Fauvel(1909). Earlv visirors (e.g.Voeltzkow 1897. Fryer 1910, 1911. Stoddart. D.R. (ed.). Biogeographvand ecologvof thc Sevchelles Islands. ISBN 90-6193-107-X @ 198,1 Dr W. Junk Publishers. The Hague. Boston. Lancastcr. Printcd in the Nethcrlands. J*anne A" lrlort!