Impacts on marine turtles - The Great Barrier Reef: An Environmental History - page 91

(1955, p284) thought that Indigenous hunting of turtles probably amounted to
many hundreds of animals per week. Saville-Kent (1890a, p733) acknowledged
the skill of Torres Strait Islanders in capturing turtles. He described the use of
'sucking fish, Echineis naucrates ' that were kept alive in the bottoms of canoes,
fastened to pieces of line and released when a turtle was sighted; the fish secured
themselves to the carapace of the turtle and could be used to haul in the catch.
Additional details about Indigenous turtle hunting, including fishing methods
and the use of turtle products, were provided by Haddon (1901). He reported
that two main turtle harvesting seasons occurred: the first was called surlangi (in
October and November), when mating turtles ( surlal ) could easily be speared at
the surface; the second extended for the remainder of the year, when turtles were
known as waru and were found in deeper waters and in channels between coral
reefs. Haddon (1901, p155) also described the method of catching turtles using
the sucker fish, which was known as gapu by the fishers.
An alternative method of capturing turtles, using spears, was reported by
Wandandian (1912, p145). Sunter (1937, pp61-2) described the capture of
turtles by Indigenous hunters using spears and 'throwing-sticks ( wommeras )',
but he indicated that the method of harpooning had also been adopted in order
to catch turtles. Sunter (1937) stated that the turtles - if covered with wet
bags - could survive for days after being harpooned, and reported that he had
often carried the animals in that condition aboard his lugger. The traditional
method of capturing turtles using the sucking fish, however, was not abandoned,
as Glenne (1938, p155) reported; in addition, spearing of the animals still was
practised, as Benham (1949) documented in the vicinity of Lindeman Island, and
as Thomson (1956) described in Princess Charlotte Bay. The diverse methods of
turtle hunting, including the use of dugout canoes and harpoons, were described
in detail by McCarthy (1955, p284), who stated that the use of sucking fish to
catch turtles was still practised by Aboriginal hunters between the Tully River and
Cape York, although he claimed that the fish used was known as Remora rather
than Echineis naucrates , and that the fish was used only to provide an indication
of the movement of the turtle and not to haul in the animal (see also McGuire,
1939). McCarthy (1955, p284) acknowledged that Indigenous hunting of turtles
occurred at Palm Island and along the northern coast from eastern Cape York
to north-western Australia; therefore, he argued, the European harvest of the
animals should be strictly regulated in order to conserve this important source of
food for Indigenous people. McCarthy (1955, p283) stated that green, hawksbill
and leatherback (or luth) turtles were the most vulnerable marine turtle species,
and that the fishing of those species by Indigenous hunters had been 'one of the
commonest sights in the old days, although not so much nowadays'.
The impact of Indigenous turtle hunting is difficult to assess from the
documentary record; no evidence was found to indicate whether or not that
harvest was ecologically sustainable. Mass (1975) noted that the animals were
more readily caught during the mating season, and that females - usually
containing eggs - were easier to capture than males, which may have had a