Green turtles (Chelonia mydas) of the north‐western Arabian Gulf, Kuwait: the need for conservation

Abstract

1. This study provides the first ever baseline data on reproductive ecology and genetic identification of the endangered green turtle, Chelonia mydas, in the north-western Arabian Gulf, Kuwait.2. Two offshore islands were surveyed for nesting turtles in 2004 and 2005.3. The findings reveal that nesting (nest numbers, nesting season, incubation period, clutch size, and hatching success) by green turtles off the Kuwait coast is comparable with that of C. mydas worldwide.4. At Umm Al-Maradim Island, no turtles nested during 2005 because of excavation and dredging activities associated with the construction of a coastguard dock.5. Mitochondrial DNA control region sequences of 97 green turtles revealed six haplotypes, of which five have not previously been reported from rookeries in adjoining regional waters or adjacent oceans; this signifies the possibility of them being novel to the region.6. Prudent management approaches, represented mainly by the rehabilitation and restoration of Umm Al-Maradim Island and the designation of both foraging and nesting habitats as marine protected areas (MPAs), should be implemented by national as well as regional policy-makers to maintain the region's native biological diversity.

Principles to enable comprehensive national marine ecosystem status assessments from disparate data: The state of the marine environment in Kuwait

“…Research studies conducted in Kuwait that were used to provide quantitative data includes seafood safety, fisheries and turtles (Al-Mohanna, Al-Zaidan & George 2014;Moore et al 2015;Laird et al, 2017) Regional studies…”

“…The overall assessment of the Biodiversity theme was considered to be moderate status (Table 6), although clear assessments of biodiversity status was hindered by the lack of systematic marine biodiversity monitoring ( Table 5). The moderate state for biodiversity reflects concern in relation to declines in turtles, rare and vulnerable fish, seabirds, coral reefs and coastal habitats (Meakins and Al Mohanna, 2004;Sheppard et al, 2010;Al-Mohanna et al, 2014;Baby et al, 2014;Moore et al, 2015;Sheppard, 2016). There is significant uncertainty over many of the aspects of biodiversity in the marine environment of Kuwait, but the limited data on much of the criteria show decline or deterioration (Table 5).…”

“…Kuwait's varied coastal habitats support large populations of migratory birds and turtles, both of which face a challenging future as urban and coastal development reduce the extent of important coastal habitats (Al-Mohanna et al, 2014;Meakins and Al Mohanna, 2004;Rees et al, 2013;Sheppard et al, 2010). The destruction and modification of the coastal habitats has also impacted Kuwait's coral islands that support these important coastal ecosystems (Baby et al, 2014).…”

“…The main impacts on biodiversity in Kuwait are coastal developments and coastal activity removing or damaging coastal and nearshore habitats, sewage inputs impacting water quality and fishing affecting vulnerable species and habitats (Devlin et al, 2015b). Future trajectories of coral reefs, seagrass beds, coastal habitats, turtles, seabirds and fish are likely to show a continued decline in status (Al-Mohanna et al, 2014;Buchanan et al, 2019;Rees et al, 2013;Sheppard et al, 2012;Sheppard, 1995;Wabnitz et al, 2018). Confidence in the assessment and prediction of trajectories for sharks, rays, whales, dolphins and impacts from alien species is low, reflecting a lack of knowledge on both the current state and the impacts of future pressures (Table 5) (Burt et al, 2016;Burt et al, 2013;Gholoum et al, 2019;Sheppard, 2016;Sheppard et al, 2012) with particular concern over the capacity for recovery given ongoing bleaching events in the Gulf (Ben-Hasan and Christensen, 2019; Burt et al, 2019;Paparella et al, 2019).…”