Bustard, 1972:

"Heron Island and North-West Island, off Gladstone in central Queensland, were the sites of turtle soup canneries in the 1920's and early 'thirties.  An excellent account of what occurred at North-West Island was given by Musgrave and Whitley in 'From sea to soup' (1926), from which the following extract is taken:

'Turtle-hunters patrol the beaches of the islet nightly, turning over all the turtles they find en route, and leaving them out of reach of the tide.  There they are helpless, and lie on their backs, their flippers scooping up the sand with great force, until exhausted.  They are often left in this position for a whole day or more, in the heat of the tropical sun, and their plight as they lie with drooping heads, often gasping for breath, is one which cannot fail to excite one's pity.  Later, several members of the party left the islet in a boat carrying a load of turtles to Rockhampton.

Twenty-two to twenty-five turtles, a good day's catch, produce about nine hundred tins of soup.  Last season (1924-1925), thirty-six thousand tins were prepared.'

These statistics indicate that about 1000 turtles were taken from North-West Island during summer 1924-5 which approximates the size of the entire breeding population at the present time.  Clearly the removal of virtually the whole breeding population each year was the surest way to wipe out the resource!

'Each of the twenty-five odd turtles which are killed daily during the breeding season, is the potential mother of about one hundred and fifty young (they did not realise that multiple nesting occurred) so that unless drastic measures are taken, the species in the long run will become extinct.'

This article, and others like it, were important in creating an atmosphere receptive to conservation.  Important pioneer work on sea turtle biology was carried out on Heron Island during a three-and-a-half month period in summer 1929-30 by Mr F.W. Moorhouse, a Queensland Government biologist.  The fact that the Queensland Government initiated an investigation on sea turtles showed that they were conscious that the resource might be being over-exploited.

Moorhouse's success illustrates the effectiveness of using information from the field to document (support) a case for conservation.  He wrote:

'Canning of turtle soup had been carried on at Heron Island for some years, work commencing early in November and finishing in February.  During the 1928-29 season, so scarce did the turtles become towards the end of the season that periodic visits had to be made to the neighbouring islands in order to obtain sufficient  animals to keep the factory in active operation.'

Moorhouse made recommendations for conservation of the green turtle in Queensland.  Writing in the same paper, he said:

'At present in Queensland there is no restriction on the taking of turtles, and there is further no regulation forbidding fishermen from taking animals before they have laid the eggs that they have come to the island to deposit.  Though the short-sightedness of killing the turtles before they have laid is admitted, even by the hunters themselves, this unwise practice is still followed.  If it is continued, especially early in the breeding season, it must in the very near future deplete our stock of turtles to such an extent as to wipe out this branch of our fishing industry' therefore, a regulation should be framed in order to prevent the extermination of the turtle.'"

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Citation and/or URL

Bustard, R. 1972, Australian Sea Turtles:  Their Natural History and Conservation, Collins, London and Sydney 220pp.  

Spatial Coverage

Primarily Australian, with references to other studies around the world

Temporal Coverage

30 years

Update Frequency

Not applicable 

Other Information

None