Report of the Sea Turtle Health Assessment Workshop, 2-3 February 1998, Part I: Background and Information Needs

A two day workshop was convened on February 2-3, 1998 in Charleston, SC with 20 invited experts in various areas of sea turtle research. The goal of this workshop was to review current information on sea turtles with respect to health and identify data gaps. The use of a suite of health assessment indicators will provide insight on the health status of sea turtle populations. Since the relationship of health factors of sea turtles is limited, a second workshop was planned. Using a tiered approach, the first workshop we identified and reviewed the available, pertinent baseline information and data gaps. The second workshop will focus on developing the framework for the research plan. The workshops will address the use of integrated set of health parameters; specific objectives are: 1) Identify reliable indicators of health in sea turtles; assess advantages and disadvantages; determine new indicators/biomarkers which may be useful, 2) Review existing sea turtle field sampling projects, 3) Identify field projects suitable for inclusion for health assessment sampling, 4) Identify data gaps, particularly environmental characterization, 5) Identify new health assessment sampling sites, including reference site(s), 6) Develop integrated five-year research plan, with focus on health assessment and environmental characterization.