Northern TerritoryNorthern Territory

Northern Territory

The Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 2000 lists marine turtles as protected wildlife. The Northern Territory Government also has a ‘Conservation through the sustainable use of wildlife’ policy, and on behalf of Aboriginal landholders and others has encouraged research into the production of marine turtles through ranching and captive breeding. The commercial export of products derived from turtles is currently prohibited by the EPBC Act.

This Act gives effect to the listing of turtles on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES). The Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory (PWCNT):

 has carried out aerial and ground surveys to determine where the high use breeding areas are for marine turtles;
 is identifying and mapping marine habitats;
 has examined habitat use by marine turtles around Coburg Peninsula and monitored and tagged flatback turtles on Greenhill Island between 1995and 1997;
 is monitoring nesting by turtles at Coburg Peninsula and Casuarina Beach in Darwin;
 is working with Dhimurru Land Management Aboriginal Corporation particularly on the ghost netting of juvenile turtles on Cape Arnhem;
 is working with the Northern Land Council to increase cooperation between coastal communities and PWCNT;
 has recently reviewed the status of all turtle species in NT waters with loggerhead classified as endangered and leather back turtles classified as vulnerable; and
 in conjunction with relevant stakeholders, is investigating options for ranching and captive breeding of hawksbill turtles.

The Northern Territory Department of Business, Industry and Resource Development (NTDBIRD) has collaboratively been involved in quantifying marine turtle/fisheries interactions and trialling TEDs and BRDs.