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![handle is hein.congrecreports/crptximp0001 and id is 1 raw text is: AUTHENTICATEO
U.S. GOVERNMENT
INFORMATION
Gp
Calendar No. 313
108TH CONGRESS REPORT
1st Session SENATE 108-167
MARINE TURTLE CONSERVATION ACT OF 2003
OCTOBER 17, 2003.-Ordered to be printed
Mr. INHOFE, from the Committee on Environment and Public
Works, submitted the following
REPORT
[to accompany S. 1210]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Environment and Public Works, to which was
referred a bill (S. 1210) to assist in the conservation of marine tur-
tles and the nesting habitats of marine turtles in foreign countries,
having considered the same, reports favorably thereon and rec-
ommends that the bill do pass.
GENERAL STATEMENT AND BACKGROUND
Marine turtles, once abundant throughout the world, are now in
very serious trouble. Some populations are expected to become ex-
tinct within the next few years. Because marine turtles are long-
lived, late maturing, and highly migratory, they are particularly
vulnerable to human exploitation and habitat loss. Of the species
found in U.S. waters the Leatherback, Green, Hawksbill, Olive Rid-
ley, Loggerhead, and Kemp's Ridley turtles-all are listed as endan-
gered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. All seven
of the world's species are included in Appendix I of the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora (CITES). The life cycles of marine turtles are very complex.
They depend on a diversity of environments, including terrestrial
sites on sandy beaches where nests are made and eggs are depos-
ited and left to incubate for about 2 months. The newly hatched
turtles instinctively run to the sea. Some turtles may spend dec-
ades on the high seas before returning to coastal waters. Dis-
persing across ocean basins is routine for many turtles as part of
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