Environment

Turtle Demand Booming in China Florida Moves to Protect Stock

by Barbara McPherson | July 25, 2009 at 02:01 pm

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With increased buying power, the turtle demand is booming in China. Florida has made a move to protect its wild stock of turtles.

The Chinese eat turtles—especially softshell and snapper species—and use the animals' parts in traditional medicines that are said to boost everything from the immune system to sexual prowess.

But conservationists worry that this high demand will cause some U.S. turtle species to be eaten to extinction.

That's why the U.S. state of Florida just passed a tough new law that effectively ends commercial wild-turtle harvests. (See a Florida map.)

Florida is home to several species of the reptiles and there is currently an abundance of them. Fears of overharvesting and destruction of the turtles has led to strict new laws forbidding commercial collection of wild turtles. Countries closer to China which have traditionally supplied turtles and turtle meat have had their wild stocks greatly reduced, sending suppliers further afield.

Chinese demand has already decimated populations in countries such as Myanmar (Burma), Vietnam, and Indonesia, according to the nonprofit Conservation International.

(Related: "Wildlife Trade Booming in Burmese Casino Town.")

The group estimates that 75 percent of Asia's 90 freshwater turtle and tortoise species are now threatened.

The turtle industry is big business. A turtle conservation group, Chelonian Trust, states that about 32 million live turtles were exported from the US between 2003 and 2005. Many of those were farmed turtles but a significant number were collected from the wild.
This new law is not without its critics who say it is too stringent and puts legitimate harvesters out of business.