Save Southern and Midwestern Freshwater Turtles From Harvesting

February 10, 2010 Subject: Please Save Wild Freshwater Turtles I support a complete ban on commercial harvest of freshwater turtles in southern and midwestern states with inadequate turtle harvest regulations. Please give wild turtles a break and end all commercial harvests. Contaminated turtles harvested in the South and Midwest enter the pet trade, are being sold domestically as food, and are exported in increasing numbers to international food markets. Many of these turtles are harvested from streams under fish advisories due to aquatic contaminants that are carcinogenic or harmful to humans, such as DDT, PCBs, pesticides, mercury, and other heavy metals. Turtles can bioaccumulate much greater levels of aquatic contaminants than fish. The consumption of contaminated turtles is a substantial public health risk. Ending all commercial harvest of freshwater turtles in public and private waters will prevent population declines of wild turtle species and at the same time protect public health. Wildlife exporters and dealers are exploiting state laws allowing unlimited and unregulated harvest. Many species of freshwater turtles are depleted or have disappeared completely from streams throughout the South and Midwest. Freshwater turtles cannot sustain any significant level of harvest from the wild without population crashes, because commercial collecting of wild turtles intensifies the effects of water pollution, road mortality, incidental take from fishing, and habitat loss, which are already causing turtle declines. State wildlife agencies in Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Alabama have recently prohibited commercial take of freshwater turtles from the wild due to turtle population crashes. Wildlife biologists from these states are recommending that neighboring states also prohibit harvest, since wildlife traffickers are stepping up harvest in unregulated states and illegally trapping turtles in states where they are protected and claiming they were collected in states where harvest is still legal. Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas: Please act immediately to end all commercial harvest, sales and export of wild turtles, both from public and private waters. Thank you for your consideration of these wildlife protection and health measures. We will add your signature from the information you provide.		First Name* Last Name* Email* Street* Street 2 City* State/Province* Select a state Alabama Alaska American Samoa Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware D.C. Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Northern Mariana Islands Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virgin Islands Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Armed Forces (the) Americas Armed Forces Europe Armed Forces Pacific Alberta British Columbia Manitoba Newfoundland New Brunswick Nova Scotia Northwest Territories Nunavut Ontario Prince Edward Island Quebec Saskatchewan Yukon Territory Other Zip/Postal Code*
Please send comments by September 30, 2009. We'll send your message to wildlife officials, governors and health officials in Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. Unregulated commercial trapping is increasingly depleting freshwater turtles in a dozen southern and midwestern states. Collectors can legally harvest every non-protected turtle that exists in the wild under the inadequate regulations that still govern many states. Because freshwater turtles are long-lived, breed late in life, and have low reproductive and survival rates, they are highly sensitive to overharvest. Removal of just two adult turtles from a wild population could cut that population in half in as few as 50 years, since for each adult turtle removed, the reproductive potential of that animal is eliminated over a breeding life that may exceed 50 years. Commercial collecting of wild turtles intensifies the effects of water pollution, road mortality, incidental take from fishery devices, and habitat loss, which are already contributing to turtle declines. Scientists warn that freshwater turtles can not sustain any significant level of harvest from the wild without leading to population crashes. Most of these states continue to allow unlimited commercial take of all sizes and ages of most species of turtles, using an unlimited quantity of hoopnets and box traps in public and private waters. In these states, many state and federally protected freshwater turtles are incidentally harvested and sold since turtle traps do not distinguish the species captured, and collectors often misidentify protected species captured in traps if they look similar to non-protected turtles. Hoopnets and box traps also capture, maim, kill, and drown non-target fish, mammals, and migratory birds, as well as endangered species like the federally threatened American alligator. Our efforts have generated rulemaking and legislative processes in many states. Texas prohibited commercial harvest from public waters in 2007, but it continues to allow unlimited harvest of some native turtle species from streams and lakes on private lands. Oklahoma enacted a three-year moratorium on commercial harvest of turtles from public waters while studying the status of its wild turtle populations. Florida has banned commercial harvest of freshwater turtles. South Carolina passed a turtle harvest bill in April 2009, the South Carolina Turtle Export Bill, which was signed by the governor and is now law. The bill makes it unlawful to remove more than 10 turtles from the wild in South Carolina at one time and more than 20 turtles in one year, for nine native species. The Georgia and Iowa state legislatures recently considered turtle protection bills, but neither passed. State wildlife agencies in Mississippi, North Carolina, and Alabama have prohibited commercial take of wild freshwater turtles. North Carolina closed all commercial harvest of aquatic turtles after compiling one year’s worth of harvest data that showed the removal of 28,000 wild-caught turtles. Wildlife biologists from states with bans have advised neighboring states to ban their own harvests, since wildlife traffickers illegally collect turtles in states where they are protected and claim they were collected in states where harvest is still legal. Most states do not survey to determine densities of turtle populations nor require commercial collectors to report the quantity, species, or location of turtles harvested from the wild. Tennessee is one of the only states that has conducted bioaccumulation analyses of toxins in freshwater turtles, with disturbing results. Most wild turtles harvested in the United States are exported to supply food markets in Asia, primarily China, which has depleted or driven most of its native freshwater turtles to extinction in the wild. Some are sold in domestic seafood markets as well. Many turtles are harvested from streams under state and federal fish advisories and bans that caution against and prohibit human consumption, due to aquatic contaminants that are carcinogenic or harmful to humans such as DDT, PCBs, pesticides, mercury, and other heavy metals. Turtles live longer and bioaccumulate considerably greater amounts of aquatic contaminants than fish, particularly snapping and softshell turtles that burrow in contaminated sediments. Read this St. Petersburg Times article, "Florida board proposes ban on sales of freshwater turtles," and this Augusta Chronicle article, "Turtle traffickers continue to target South Carolina." Learn more about our campaign for southern and midwestern freshwater turtles. Painted turtle photo by Russ Ottens, University of Georgia.