Tell Tennessee to Give Wild Turtles a Break

Freshwater turtles need your help. The Center for Biological Diversity and Tennessee conservation groups formally petitioned Tennessee this spring to end unsustainable commercial harvest of wild turtles -- both to protect dwindling populations of freshwater turtles and to protect human health. Turtles sold domestically as food or exported to international food markets are often contaminated with mercury, PCBs, and pesticides. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission will vote on proposed harvest regulations at its upcoming meeting on August 20. Join us in asking the Commission to approve a proposed rule banning turtle harvest from Reelfoot Lake and banning snapping turtle harvest statewide. If adopted, this would be a major step forward in our campaign to prevent further population declines of native turtle species and protect public health. We have information that a Commission staff report will advise against closing turtle harvest. Our efforts have generated rulemaking and legislative processes to protect turtles in many states. Florida recently put its freshwater turtles completely off-limits to commercial harvesters, passing a historic freshwater turtle harvesting ban in June. Florida now has one of the country's strongest conservation measures for freshwater turtles to date. Encourage Tennessee to adopt sensible stewardship of freshwater turtles too. Your message asking for an end to commercial turtle havest will be sent to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission.

November 22, 2009 Subject: Please Give Wild Turtles a Break Please give wild turtles a break and end all commercial harvest of freshwater turtles in Tennessee. I encourage the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission to propose a rulemaking banning turtle harvest from Reelfoot Lake and ending snapping turtle harvest statewide. Contaminated turtles harvested from the wild 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. Because 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 will prevent population declines of wild turtle species and will protect public health. 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. 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. Please act immediately to end all commercial harvest, sales and export of wild turtles. 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 take action by December 31, 2009. Barbour's map turtle photo courtesy USGS. More than 12,000 turtles are collected from the wild in Tennessee each year, and the state recently permitted more commercial trapping of snapping turtles on private ponds. Last year, a report published for the Tennessee Wildlife Commission on the status of turtles in Reelfoot Lake, the only body of water in Tennessee where all freshwater turtle species may be harvested by legal methods, recommended considering eliminating turtle harvest at the lake. The Commission continues to contemplate whether to continue to allow unlimited harvest of eight native turtle species from this lake and snapping turtles statewide. Tennessee is one of the only states that have conducted bioaccumulation analyses of toxins in freshwater turtles, with disturbing results. The problem goes beyond Tennessee. Freshwater turtles in a dozen Southern and Midwestern states are still legally overharvested. These turtles are destined for domestic and international food markets. In 2008 we petitioned Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Texas to ban commercial turtle harvest, and in 2009 we petitioned Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio, South Carolina, and Tennessee, the last states with unrestricted commercial harvest or inadequate harvest regulations. Unregulated commercial trapping is increasingly depleting freshwater turtles in the South and Midwest. Because freshwater turtles are long-lived, breed late in life, and have low reproductive and survival rates, they are highly sensitive to overharvest. Commercial collecting of wild turtles intensifies the effects of water pollution, road mortality, incidental hurting or killing by fishery devices, and habitat loss, which are already contributing to turtle declines. Scientists warn that freshwater turtles cannot sustain any significant level of harvest from the wild without leading to population crashes. Our efforts have generated rulemaking and legislative processes in many states. Florida recently imposed strict regulations ending commercial harvest. Last year, Oklahoma enacted a three-year moratorium on commercial harvest of turtles from public waters while studying the status of its wild turtle populations, the effects of commercial harvest, and the potential contamination of turtles sold as food. Texas prohibited commercial harvest of turtles from public waters in 2007, but allowed continued unlimited harvest of three native turtle species from private waters. Most of the state wildlife and health agencies petitioned for emergency rulemaking to protect wild turtles and public health have refused to act. Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio, and South Carolina have all denied the petition. More information can be found at: www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/southern_and_midwestern_freshwater_turtles/index.html