Commercial harvest and export of snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) in the United States:

Cowboy_Ken

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1) Commercial harvest and export of snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) in the United States: trends and the efficacy of size limits at reducing harvest

Journal for Nature Conservation 35 (2017) 13–19

Benjamin C. Colteauxa,∗, Derek M. Johnsonb

a Integrative Life Sciences, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1000 West Cary Street, Richmond, VA 23284, USA b Department of Biology, Virginia Commonwealth University,1000 West Cary Street, Richmond, VA, 23284, USA

∗ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (B.C. Colteaux).

Abstract

As Asian turtle populations have crashed, China has increasingly turned to international import to meet domestic demand, which has increased pressure on global turtle populations. Snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) are being harvested in unprecedented numbers in the United States (US) to meet the needs of this international market. Here we report US snapping turtle live export from 1999 to 2013, and for the first time test the effectiveness of size limits in reducing commercial harvest numbers. Over three million live snapping turtles from farm and wild caught stock were exported from the US to Asia in 2012–14 alone. Increases in the export of wild caught snapping turtles to over 200,000 individuals in 2012 and 2014, compared to under 50,000 in other years, may indicate that farms are becoming unable to keep up with increasing demand. Annual harvest pressure at the state level increased linearly from 1998 to 2013, mirroring trends in federal export over the same time period. Our model estimates that size-limits were effective at reducing harvest by 30–87% in years with high harvest pressure. However, the majority of size limit regulations result in the removal of larger breeding adults, which has been shown to be detrimental to long term population viability. Regulatory approaches dedicated to the long term management of this iconic species will need to balance the short term gains, in the form of reduced harvest rates, with long term population viability.
 

cdmay

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It seems impossible that any species of turtle could withstand such depletion for very long. Even with the so called 'farming' the numbers are simply overwhelming.
 

enchilada

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this is what turtle farms looks like in china. they produced so many in recent years that the market crashed. now snapping turtles are at $4/lbs retail market
 

leigti

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I am a little confused. If they over produced them then why do they need to import some? Go back to producing them. It's better than taking them out of the wild.
 

enchilada

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I am a little confused. If they over produced them then why do they need to import some? Go back to producing them. It's better than taking them out of the wild.
well, im confused too.
im sure when they started the farms around early 2000s, a lot breeding groups are WC from US.

but im more confused on this:
but look at this paragraph " Over three million live snapping turtles from farm and wild caught stock were exported from the US to Asia in 2012–14 alone. Increases in the export of wild caught snapping turtles to over 200,000 individuals in 2012 and 2014, compared to under 50,000 in other years,"

so 2012-2014, 3 million total exported (WC and farmed in US), 200,000 were WC. thats 6.67% of the total number exported.
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in 2 years, 2.8 million exported were CB farmed in US-----thats a lot jobs created and tax revenue.
wouldnt ban WC exports and support commercial farms in US a win win situation?
but this article made it sounds like American turtle farmers slaughtered 3 million "endangered" snapping turtles to feed the greedy asian market
 

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