The legal and illegal supply chains of sea turtle eggs in Costa Rica

Many poor rural communities rely on biodiversity to fulfil basic livelihood requirements. Trade bans of natural resources often conflict with poverty alleviation and can stimulate illegal trade. Understanding markets, prices and profitability along both legal and illegal trade chains is crucial if appropriate regulatory mechanisms are to be implemented. Using the legal extraction of sea turtle eggs from Ostional, we used a mixed-methods approach to analyse the legal domestic supply chain. We used semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and data on the volume and destinations of egg sales to conduct a value chain analysis. We found an inequitable distribution of revenue along the legal supply chain, with middlemen profiting the most. Geographical barriers to trade flows and competition with illegal trade meant higher profits were achieved by sending the largest volume of the furthest distance. However, this increased the vulnerability of local traders to fluctuations in supply. Comparing legal and illegal trade routes, we identified potential laundering hotspots on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Illegal eggs were cheaper than legal eggs available from Ostional. However, given the volume of Ostional eggs supplying the Caribbean and the fragility of local trader livelihoods, we advise caution in altering any management plan that could impact supply to this region, fearing a dwindling supply of legal eggs may stimulate illegal extraction in the Caribbean. Our research is directly relevant to the policies of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, Convention on Biological Diversity and UN Sustainable Development Goals as our research enhances our understanding of how natural resource use can help alleviate poverty, improve local livelihoods and inform policy regarding wildlife laundering.