CUSTOMS Officers and Wildlife Rangers seized a significant quantity of turtle shell products in raids on four shops in Dublin last week, in what is believed to be the first seizure of its kind in the State.
It is believed that 57 sea turtle products, including bracelets, hair slides and jewellery boxes, were confiscated during the raids.
All turtles species are protected and trade in their body parts is deemed illegal under the United Nations Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The shops allegedly dealing in the products were raided following a "tip off" to the National Parks and Wildlife Service.
Although Ireland is obliged to seize such products and enforce CITES under European law, it is the only EU member state that has failed to ratify the CITES convention. Therefore dealing in such products is not illegal under current Irish wildlife legislation.
According to sources, the turtle species from which the shell originated suggests that the items were purchased from dealers in Indonesia. Mr Steven Broad, executive director of Traffic, an international organisation which monitors the trade in endangered species, told The Irish Times that most Indonesian turtle products come from female Hawksbill turtles killed while coming on shore to nest.
Mr Broad claimed that the killing of turtles for the trade in shell products had contributed to the worldwide fall in their numbers. Zoologists and conservationists know very little about the life cycle of sea turtles. The hunting of the species to supply the demand for curios was hindering scientific efforts to study them, he said.
Endangered species are listed in three different CITES appendices, and all species of sea turtle are listed on Appendix 1 of CITES, which lists creatures considered to be in imminent danger of extinction.
A spokeswoman for the Revenue Commissioners confirmed the seizures, but was unable to say whether the retail outlets involved in selling the products would be prosecuted.
A spokesman for the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht said proposals to amend the 1976 Wildlife Act, which include measures to ratify CITES in Ireland, would be introduced in the Dail soon.
He also said the authorities were considering taking action under the Customs Consolidation Act against traders involved in importing the turtle produces.