The need for cooperative management of Caribbean sea turtles between the three nations has been recognized since the 1960s. Sea Turtle Conservancy’s first technical director and renowned sea turtle specialist Dr. Archie Carr, and his Costa Rican colleague Guillermo “Billy” Cruz, helped convince natural resource management and fishery officials from the three countries to sign a tri-national agreement for the protection of sea turtles in 1969. But the process broke down before the agreement could be ratified when Nicaragua acquired funding for the construction of three processing plants to prepare green turtle meat for export. Legal export of sea turtles and their derivatives ceased in 1975, but current harvest levels for subsistence use now rival those from the days when green turtles supplied a global market with meat and soup. The need for international cooperation in sea turtle management is still required, as there would be little incentive for one nation to protect turtles that are then harvested without restraint after they migrate across borders.

The new cooperative agreement requires the Parties to work together to protect sea turtle habitats–marine habitats as well as nesting beaches–and to develop and execute a Regional Management Plan to provide guidelines and criteria for a tri-national protected area system for the turtles. This will effectively establish a coastal and marine biological corridor or “blueway” in the western Caribbean for sea turtles.