Florida to lead the nation in protection of turtles
April 16th, 2009 by admin
Yesterday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) met in Tallahassee and unanimously approved a draft rule to ban large-scale, commercial hunting of freshwater turtles in Florida.
In a press release announcing the vote, an FWC spokesperson sounded justifiably proud, “This draft rule represents the most comprehensive set of protections and conservation measures for freshwater turtles in the United States. Few places in North America have the rich diversity of turtles that we have here in Florida, and this proposed rule ensures their long-term survival.”
The FWC moved quickly on this issue after it became clear that the foreign market for turtles presented a real threat to softshell turtles in Florida’s lakes, rivers and canals. Thousands of turtles are shipped out of Florida each week for markets in China, Japan and other countries.
Animal advocates have also raised concerns about the cruel methods used to capture turtles. Turtle fishermen commonly use long monofilament lines trailing dozens of baited hooks. The lines are left unattended in the water for long periods, hooking turtles or other wildlife. In a recent letter published in the Lakeland Ledger, Polk County resident Jacque Woodward wrote about finding lines of baited hooks on Crooked Lake, “while boating I was picking up garbage in the lake and came upon what I thought to be floating plastic oil bottles. As I was pulling these bottles from the water attached were the lines with everything from catfish to freshwater turtles. These lines were death lines.”
The FWC will continue to accept public comments on the draft rule before a final vote at the FWC’s meeting in Crystal River on June 17. If you haven’t already done so, please contact the FWC and express your strong support of the Freshwater Turtle Draft Rule. Florida’s turtles should not be killed for commercial gain.
E-mail your comments to: turtles@MyFWC.com
From the wild to the farm.
We’re looking forward to the end of the commercial trade in wild-caught turtles. But the future is not all bright for turtles in Florida. The FWC has explained that one of the effects of the draft rule would be to shift the commercial trade in turtles from the wild to the farm.
Currently there are about 30 farms in Florida that raise turtles for food and for the pet trade. But according to the FWC, “There are more turtle farms planned in Florida and at least three are currently under development.” One of those farms is owned by Wan To Ho, a Broward County-based exporter of turtles. Wan To Ho currently ships as many as 1,500 turtles a week out of airports in south Florida- many of them wild-caught turtles purchased from fishermen. But he recently established a turtle farm on Lake Okeechobee. Wan To Ho told the Sun-Sentinel last month that he is not troubled by the proposed ban on commercial hunting of wild turtles, “My business will keep going. I don’t worry about it.”