The hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) is one of seven sea turtle species, all of which are protected by international law. One of the distinguishing characteristics of the hawksbill is its carapace (shell), which is covered with colorful and ornate keratinous overlapping plates called scutes. These scutes are the source of "tortoiseshell" products, which are widely, though illegally, available in many countries. The hawksbill has a circumglobal distribution, making coordinated and focused conservation efforts aimed at preventing poaching of the species difficult. In this research, a procedure was developed to extract and amplify mitochondrial DNA from tortoiseshell items, in an effort to determine where these sea turtles are being poached, thus establishing tortoiseshell products as a novel source of genetic material. DNA from 56 confiscated tortoiseshell items donated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service were analyzed. An average of 506 base pairs of mitochondrial DNA was sequenced. Sixteen haplotypes were indentified including 10 that were unique. All but one item (94%) corresponded to genetic stocks in the Indo-Pacific Ocean region, two were plastic tortoiseshell forgeries, and the remaining item was Atlantic in origin. These results indicate that poaching is more common in the Indo-Pacific Ocean and the multiple Indo-Pacific haplotypes imply that poaching is occurring at more than one location in this region. Based on these results, conservation efforts should be focused on the Indo-Pacific region. This research will allow for specific legislation, effective enforcement and the inclusion of evidence during prosecution, all addressing the need to reduce the poaching of hawksbills that supply the tortoiseshell trade.
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