2. Customary harvest by Aboriginal and T2. Customary harvest by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

2. Customary harvest by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

This plan seeks to engage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the national recovery and management of marine turtles and to restore and maintain marine turtle populations at levels that can support a sustainable indigenous subsistence harvest of turtles and eggs.

Marine turtles play a diverse role in the lives of coastal indigenous peoples and are significant in the continuing culture of Australia’s indigenous communities. The relationship is interwoven into the fabric of everyday cultural, spiritual, social and economic practices and future conservation and management strategies require the involvement and cooperation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

This plan identifies the need for negotiated agreements to be made between indigenous communities and land management agencies that acknowledge customary and statutory law and promote the recovery of species.

Agreements should reflect local conditions and allow these to influence management regimes, with parties to the negotiation, fulfilling their respective roles of resource managers and community leaders. A combination of customary and State/Territory/Commonwealth law may be the best combination to achieve the objective of a customary harvest that ensures the long-term survival and recovery of marine turtles in the wild and which does not contribute to any further decline of marine turtles.

All Australian marine turtle populations, except loggerhead turtles, are affected by indigenous harvest of eggs. The following populations are also affected by harvest for meat:

– all green turtle populations;
– to a lesser extent hawksbill turtles from the north eastern Australian and Great Barrier Reef population;
– olive ridley turtles from the Northern Territory population;
– flatback turtles from the Gulf of Carpentaria and North West Shelf; and
– loggerhead turtles from the North West Shelf.

Turtles are of enormous cultural, spiritual and economic (subsistence) importance to indigenous people. Through a long association with turtles, indigenous people have developed a detailed body of traditional ecological knowledge that includes information on the natural history and ecology of turtles. Turtles have spiritual significance, which is found in the stories and accounts of the past in many coastal indigenous communities. They have economic value because they provide sustenance, particularly for isolated communities where a nourishing diet is essential but often difficult to attain due to isolation and the high cost of store bought food. Furthermore, resources such as turtles and other traditional foods reinforce the culture and demonstrate affiliation with tradition and traditional estates.

In ceremonies, turtles play different roles for many coastal indigenous people. In some areas the turtle forms part of creation stories and can be found in all aspects of spirituality, art and life. The activity of pursuing the turtle itself may have great significance and be an expression of continuance of a long cultural tradition. The importance of the hunting and butchering of the turtle is also expressed through the social sharing of the animal as food according to traditional kinship protocols. The hunt may also form an important part of a young male’s progression from boyhood to manhood when given the opportunity for his first hunt.