The exploitation of sooty tern eggs in the seychelles

Abstract

In the Seychelles, populations of sooty terns Sterna fuscata have declined this century, but the decline has not been as great as previously thought, and factors apart from over-exploitation of the eggs have been involved. A recent study of sooty tern ecology in the Seychelles has indicated that the present close season regulation serves no useful biological purpose. A system of quotas of eggs that may be taken from each island has not been effective due to chaning tern populations and to the voluntary cessation of collecting on some islands. This paper recommends that the eggs should in future be collected from two islands only, and that all other sooty tern colonies should be protected as far as is practicable. Exploitation should be restricted to the eggs of about 20% of the Seychelles/Amirantes population of sooty terns, but further research on the movements of the birds is urgently needed to determine the extent of inter-colony movements.