Panel seeks public opinion on limiting turtle trapping in Arkansas

State game regulators are accepting public comments through mid-November on a proposal to further curb turtle trapping in Arkansas.

Last year, a national conservation group petitioned the state Game and Fish Commission to ban commercial turtle trapping.

Last week, the commission rejected the petition but proceeded with six suggested regulation changes that would partially limit the for-sale trapping of the slow-moving reptiles. The commission also plans to study commercial turtle trapping from 2019-21 "in order to to make a more data-driven decision" on the proposed total ban, spokesman Keith Stephens said.

The six changes are "aimed at managing the commercial harvest of turtles in the state," Stephens said. The changes would ban turtle trapping in parts of south and northeast Arkansas.

"This is a much-needed step toward protecting Arkansas' turtles and understanding the grim toll of commercial trapping, but stronger safeguards are critical," Elise Bennett, an attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a news release. The center, along with several Arkansas conservation groups, petitioned for the total ban last fall.

Marcus Blach said a ban would shut down his business.

Blach, who owns Northeast Arkansas Turtle Farm, doesn't use the St. Francis River for his trapping, he said. That's the area where trapping would be banned in northeast Arkansas -- in Greene and Clay counties.

However, the new proposal could close some turtle farmers in a market that's worsening because of lack of demand, Blach said.

East Asian markets are now breeding their own turtles.

In the past, China and other countries were big buyers of baby turtles, Blach said. He used to be able to get as much as $10 for a baby snapper from Chinese buyers, he said. But regulations on the turtle pet trade in the United States have hampered that. Now he can sell a baby snapper for just 22 cents.

He said businesses are trapping fewer turtles these days, but he doesn't think that's because there are fewer turtles.

Turtle farms are often small businesses. Blach employs two full-time people at his Amagon establishment and another dozen or so people for three months out of the year when the turtles hatch and then need to be shipped.

"We can live with the proposal that the Game and Fish has set forth now, if they leave it alone," he said.

Turtles are often caught to be used as pets or for food. But, in the United States, baby turtles can't be sold as pets, and the food market is smaller than it is in other countries.

Turtles are sometimes sold to researchers. Some people are collectors, Blach said. He sold a two-headed turtle -- which made headlines nationwide -- to a man in South Korea who had a collection of turtles.

Several states have limitations or partial bans on commercial turtle trapping.

Arkansas allows the commercial trapping of 14 types of turtles in east and southeast Arkansas.

In 2004, more than 250,000 wild turtles were caught and sold in Arkansas, according to Game and Fish data. The commission records 21,533 turtles harvested in 2017. From 2009-17, the number of commercial-harvest and dealer permits that were issued dropped from 91 to 35.

The Center for Biological Diversity's petition notes declines in the snapping turtle population and low recovery of the species in the upper Mississippi River, above Arkansas. Red-eared sliders, the most-harvested turtle in Arkansas, are more prevalent in protected areas, according to the petition.

The group also has petitioned other states to ban commercial turtle trapping.

The modified petition before the Game and Fish Commission proposes limiting permits issued annually to 150 from 2019-21, the duration of the study. The proposed regulations include requiring the harvester to submit one report per year to renew the commercial-harvest or dealer permit, clarifying that people holding wild-caught aquatic turtles with the intent to sell must have dealer permits, and banning the harvest of razorback musk turtles.

Currently, the alligator snapping turtle, the western chicken turtle, ornate box turtle and three-toed box turtle are protected from commercial harvests, according to the petition. Other turtles are subject to unlimited collection.

The two locations that trappers would no longer be able to use are the Gulf Coastal Plain and the St. Francis River area in Greene and Clay counties.

The commission wants to put the petitions through the regulation process to gather public input, Stephens said. In 2009, the commission took public comment on a similar petition and denied it based on the feedback, he said.

The commission is expected to vote on the six proposed regulation changes at its Nov. 15 meeting.

Metro on 10/22/2018

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