The decimation of leatherback turtles in Costa Rica: Ignorance or poverty or both?

A friend sends me the following images from the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, a "Paradise on Earth."  But even in paradise there are ecological horrors:

Above a bunch of turtles after laying their eggs (it's known that the 2-to-3 hour labor of laying and burying the eggs represents a grueling task). Below a group of locals invading the beach not to help the turtles but to fetch their eggs (See that I don't use the word "steal," because, legally, turtles don't own their eggs -the disadvantage of not being human). 

Are Costa Ricans so hungry? Of course not. Can they understand the ecological difference between chicken eggs and turtle eggs? Donno.  They definitely like turtle eggs better for their pancake batter!

 

 

I cannot help thinking how many would-be turtles are there in all those sacks that will never get to swim the high seas?

 

No wonder poaching is the major factor in the decline of leatherback turtles.

It's pretty hard to watch the still impotence of the washed-out turtle loose its barely-laid offspring against such a formidable predator. These poachers are not starving. This is not to suggest that poaching and poverty -and ignorance- are not linked. It turns there is a whole industry of poaching. 

In this news, a man was caught with 4,500 turtle eggs! Can the sea turtle survive its worst enemy? Let's not waste time now examining the cause of poaching. What needs to be done now is to stop it, and the only way is to enforce the Costa Rican legislation against poaching turtle eggs.

The moral of the story? Where there is money to be made, there are always "smart" men seeking opportunities!
____________ 
According to reliable sources three of the seven species of marine turtle are critically endangered:

Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) - Critically Endangered
Kemp’s Ridley Turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) - Critically Endangered
Leatherback Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) - Critically Endangered
Loggerhead Turtle (Caretta caretta) - Endangered
Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) - Endangered
Olive Ridley Turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) - Vulnerable
Flatback Turtle (Natator depressus) - Vulnerable