Texas Turtles Need your Help - Please Share!

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Barbarawww.veggiechild.com Check out our new designs www.urbanveggie.com http://pets.DFWTurtleandTortoiseClub/ Note: forwarded message attached.

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new cars at Autos.

 

 

 

Texas

turtles are disappearing at an alarming rate! This is your opportunity to take

action to protect them.

 

Background:

Recent social changes in China have created a new middle

class that is eager to pay top dollars for turtle meat, which is considered to

be a Chinese delicacy. As a result, demand has skyrocketed and turtles in China

and neighboring Southeast Asian countries have been virtually wiped out. Turtle

farming is beginning to take hold in China, but cannot yet meet the

market’s demand. So, the market is reaching out to other parts of the

world, particularly North America where commerce and shipment capabilities

already exist to ship turtles directly to Asia.

 

Here at home:

Most Texas

turtles are currently classified as non-game species, which means there are no limitations

on the numbers that can be harvested from the wild. There are a few individuals

in Texas who are taking advantage of the lack

of regulation and have made a business of supplying Texas turtles to the Asian food market. One

trapper in particular has actively recruited and formed a “co-op”

of 450 trappers throughout the state that helps him meet (self-reported) Asian

contract quotas that exceed 300,000 turtles each year.

 

The human element:

Turtles are being sent not only to food

markets in Asia, but also (in much smaller numbers) to Asian supermarkets in Texas. Some of these

turtles are being trapped in bodies of water in which the fish have been deemed

unsuitable for consumption due to high levels of heavy metals such as Mercury,

PCBs, pesticides and other dangerous chemicals. Turtles are much longer-lived

than fish, and therefore stand to accumulate many more toxins in their tissue

over a lifetime, potentially posing a major health risk to the families who are

purchasing their meat.

 

Key points:

 

Export

data confirms that more than 250,000 wild-caught turtles were shipped out

of D/FW airport alone from 2002 to 2005.

This

kind of harvest is unsustainable based on turtle biology. Very few young

turtles survive to adulthood and those that do are late to mature

sexually. Turtle populations make up for their losses by living a long

time (50-70 years in some cases) and producing young each year. Removing

large, mature females from the population – which fetch the most

money – is devastating to populations.

The

traps that are used are often dangerous for not only turtles, but other

species as well. When not used correctly, there is a high risk of drowning

for any animals that enter the traps.

Currently

four species of non-marine turtles in Texas are protected. However, given

that many species look similar to one another, there is a potential for

misidentification when large shipments of turtles are being sent out of

the state. In essence, under the current regulations, there is a potential

for protected turtles to be harvested simply because they are getting

mixed in with the large numbers of non-protected species.

It

is irresponsible to continue to allow the harvest of Texas turtles for food markets given

the potential of contamination and the health risk to the humans that

consume them.

Texas currently

has some of the most lenient regulations in the country in regard to the

commercial harvest of turtles.

Given

the fact that Asian turtle populations have been virtually eliminated in

just 15 to 20 years, it is only reasonable to assume that Texas turtle

populations would face the same fate when subjected to the same levels of

harvest.

 

 

The Good News!

The Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission

(TPWC) has taken a huge step toward banning the commercial harvest of all wild

turtles in Texas.

In April, the commissioners moved to propose a complete ban, which is now

posted for review and available for public comment. However, the TPWC is under considerable pressure from

commercial interests to not uphold this ban. Allowing the

continued commercial collection of red-eared sliders, softshells and snapping

turtles from private waters is being considered. However, there is no way to

distinguish a turtle trapped in private waters from one trapped in public waters

– making this is an unenforceable decision that will continue to drain

populations from public waters. Once private stock ponds are cleared,

collectors will most likely turn to public areas such as rivers and streams.

 

On May 23 and 24, the commissioners will

meet again and will review the comments that they have received. This is where you come in! Please click here

by May 23 and let the Texas

Parks and Wildlife

Commission know that you agree

with this critical piece of legislation! While you’re there,

feel free to include some of the key points that you feel most passionately

about and please congratulate the commission for taking action on this

conservation crisis. Please also forward this message to friends who are

passionate about protecting Texas’

wildlife.

 

If

the link to make a public comment does not work, cut and paste: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/business/feedback/public_comment/proposals/200705_nongame.phtml

into your web browser.

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Sorry, the previouse email got a bit messed up. Here it is again.

Please check the link on the bottom to the TPDW. They did a great

webpage where you can very conveniently and dirrectly submit your

comments about the imporance of banning collecting turtles from wild

and being eaten in China!

 

thanks

Barbara

 

 

http://pets.DFWTurtleandTortoiseClub/

 

----

 

Texas turtles are disappearing at an alarming rate! This is your

opportunity to take action to protect them.

 

Background:

Recent social changes in China have created a new middle class that is

eager to pay top dollars for turtle meat, which is considered to be a

Chinese delicacy. As a result, demand has skyrocketed and turtles in

China and neighboring Southeast Asian countries have been virtually

wiped out. Turtle farming is beginning to take hold in China , but

cannot yet meet the market's demand. So, the market is reaching out to

other parts of the world, particularly North America where commerce

and shipment capabilities already exist to ship turtles directly to Asia .

 

Here at home:

Most Texas turtles are currently classified as non-game species, which

means there are no limitations on the numbers that can be harvested

from the wild. There are a few individuals in Texas who are taking

advantage of the lack of regulation and have made a business of

supplying Texas turtles to the Asian food market. One trapper in

particular has actively recruited and formed a " co-op " of 450 trappers

throughout the state that helps him meet (self-reported) Asian

contract quotas that exceed 300,000 turtles each year.

 

The human element:

Turtles are being sent not only to food markets in Asia, but also (in

much smaller numbers) to Asian supermarkets in Texas . Some of these

turtles are being trapped in bodies of water in which the fish have

been deemed unsuitable for consumption due to high levels of heavy

metals such as Mercury, PCBs, pesticides and other dangerous

chemicals. Turtles are much longer-lived than fish, and therefore

stand to accumulate many more toxins in their tissue over a lifetime,

potentially posing a major health risk to the families who are

purchasing their meat.

 

Key points:

• Export data confirms that more than 250,000 wild-caught turtles were

shipped out of D/FW airport alone from 2002 to 2005.

• This kind of harvest is unsustainable based on turtle biology. Very

few young turtles survive to adulthood and those that do are late to

mature sexually. Turtle populations make up for their losses by living

a long time (50-70 years in some cases) and producing young each year.

Removing large, mature females from the population – which fetch the

most money – is devastating to populations.

• The traps that are used are often dangerous for not only turtles,

but other species as well. When not used correctly, there is a high

risk of drowning for any animals that enter the traps.

• Currently four species of non-marine turtles in Texas are protected.

However, given that many species look similar to one another, there is

a potential for misidentification when large shipments of turtles are

being sent out of the state. In essence, under the current

regulations, there is a potential for protected turtles to be

harvested simply because they are getting mixed in with the large

numbers of non-protected species.

• It is irresponsible to continue to allow the harvest of Texas

turtles for food markets given the potential of contamination and the

health risk to the humans that consume them.

• Texas currently has some of the most lenient regulations in the

country in regard to the commercial harvest of turtles.

• Given the fact that Asian turtle populations have been virtually

eliminated in just 15 to 20 years, it is only reasonable to assume

that Texas turtle populations would face the same fate when subjected

to the same levels of harvest.

 

The Good News!

The Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission (TPWC) has taken a huge step

toward banning the commercial harvest of all wild turtles in Texas .

In April, the commissioners moved to propose a complete ban, which is

now posted for review and available for public comment. However, the

TPWC is under considerable pressure from commercial interests to not

uphold this ban. Allowing the continued commercial collection of

red-eared sliders, softshells and snapping turtles from private waters

is being considered. However, there is no way to distinguish a turtle

trapped in private waters from one trapped in public waters – making

this is an unenforceable decision that will continue to drain

populations from public waters. Once private stock ponds are cleared,

collectors will most likely turn to public areas such as rivers and

streams.

 

On May 23 and 24, the commissioners will meet again and will review

the comments that they have received. This is where you come in!

Please click here

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/business/feedback/public_comment/proposals/200705_no\

\

ngame.phtml

by May 23 and let the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission know that

you agree with this critical piece of legislation! While you're there,

feel free to include some of the key points that you feel most

passionately about and please congratulate the commission for taking

action on this conservation crisis. Please also forward this message

to friends who are passionate about protecting Texas ' wildlife.