Chinese meat trade threatens American turtles
Wild American turtles are being harvested from ponds and streams to feed an insatiable appetite for fresh turtle meat in Asia, conservationists have warned.
Experts fear that U.S. turtle populations could be permanently damaged unless the rogue trade is stamped out. Earlier this month the Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson, Arizona, called on eight southern and midwestern states to end the unsustainable harvesting of freshwater turtles.
Turtle populations in Asia, where the animals are considered a delicacy, have been driven to the brink of extinction by the meat trade. Now American turtles are being exported to China to feed still increasing demand for the creatures.
In Iowa, turtle harvests have soared from 29,000 pounds 20 years ago to 235,000 in 2007 while Arkansas is estimated to harvest around 200,000 turtles each year.
More than 250,000 turtles were exported from a single airport in Texas between 2002 and 2005 before the state banned commercial harvesting. Florida is now considering a similar ban.
“People in states where there’s either no regulation or lax regulations are literally strip mining streams,” Center for Biological Diversity spokesman Jeff Miller told the Associated Press.
“We’re going to see some pretty catastrophic results in terms of the number of turtles being taken. It’s way beyond anything that’s sustainable.”