An increasingly popular export product is affecting the trade balance between the United States and China: live turtles.
Every year millions of turtles are hatched in farms or caught from wild environments consumed in China, where sophistication has been well known for a while. Chinese people eat turtle meat - especially soft shell turtle - and use turtle parts to make traditional medicine. This drug is believed to enhance all abilities from the immune system to sexual ability. But conservationists are concerned that such high demand will cause some species of US freshwater turtles to become extinct.
That's why Florida State in the United States has just passed a strict new law to effectively stop the exploitation of wild turtles. The new law came into effect on July 20, restricting the non-commercial use of individuals at the rate of one turtle a day for most state turtles.
Florida's marshes, rivers and coast are the preferred habitat for 25 species of turtles, some of which are declining due to human exploitation (Florida's turtle conservation agency). .
Taste cannot be satisfied
According to experts, the fear of excessive consumption of turtles is based on reliable statistics. The Chinese have reduced the populations of turtles in countries such as Myanmar (Burma), Vietnam, and Indonesia (according to the International Nonprofit Conservation Agency).
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates that 75% of the 90 species of tortoise and freshwater turtles in Asia are currently threatened. This decline has put greater pressure on areas where turtles are in high numbers, including some in the United States.
Florida biologist Matthew Aresco - a member of IUCN's Turtle and Freshwater Turtle Research Group - has spent more than a decade studying state turtles.
According to Aresco, it was the rapid and serious decline of Florida turtles that led to the enactment of new legislation. In the last few years, the people of the state have also noticed a large number of turtles in the area have been exploited.
Aresco said: 'For a relative period of time, no one knew what was happening; that buyers of Asian turtles have come to Florida now that the demand for turtles has increased dramatically. ' The basic statistics cited from Florida state turtle regulations suggest that the export of wild American soft-shell turtle has increased to 400% between 2000 and 2004.
Turtle farms
Patricia Behnke, of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Protection Council at Tallahassee, says it is difficult to control turtle populations. But continuing to exploit turtles without any control measures will cause major fluctuations in the population of this reptile. She said: 'We think that the most effective conservation measure - and also the best for freshwater turtles - is to ban commercial exploitation of wild turtles, while diverting. to the aquaculture industry '.
Turtle farming in the US is now a lucrative business.Nearly 32 million live turtles have been exported from the United States since 2003 to 2005 (according to a study conducted by the World Turtle Protection Agency). Among them, over 31 million - mostly red-eared turtles - are hatched and raised on farms then transferred to Asia, where they are raised to adulthood.
But the number of wild turtles being legally taken to Asia still stunned people, according to the study, about 700,000. This is indeed a disaster because turtles are long-lived species. Most Florida turtles take between 3 and 13 years to reach reproductive age.
Is exploitation acceptable?
A fisherman who has long lived on income from turtle exploitation was disappointed with the new law mentioned above. William Shockley - commercial turtle fisherman at Okeechobee, Florida - said the new strict law was enacted as a political overreaction.
He said: 'To them what we say what they are saying is ridiculous. They have no scientific basis to prove this. They have relied heavily on studies conducted in other states that do not have the same climate as Florida, especially South Florida. Once turtles can thrive here, they will flourish. '
Shockley said that the fishermen knew that the catching of turtles fluctuated each year depending on the rainfall. Rainfall determines the wet area suitable for turtle development.
He stressed that they have long known how to exploit turtles in a reasonable and long-term way. Peter Paul van Dijk - director of the International Conservation Agency's tortoise and freshwater conservation program - agrees that some turtles can be exploited for a long time based on traditional harvesting systems . The program has given limited numbers as well as a relatively large amount of time for turtle populations to grow.
Van Dijk explained: 'But the problem is that the demand for turtles will probably surpass the limit. This is basically an open industry, unless we have real control measures. So any commercial engine aimed at over-exploiting can be diverted to other species. '
Van Dijk hopes that turtle farming will be able to save wild turtle populations. 'My personal view is that among the trends that can arise, turtle farming is still a less cruel measure than capturing turtles in the wild'.
Shocked
But farming is not without its problems.
Most people rely on catching wild animals to supplement the amount raised in farms. Some farms are also essentially turning to illegal trade in wild turtles. The secret trade investigation conducted in March 2009 for the protected New York reptile and amphibian led to 18 charges.
But Florida biologist Matt Aresco said farms could be the biggest success.
He added: 'If farms can be self-reliant and regulate the original source of reproduction rather than continue to exploit outside, this will be a good sign. Important is that. But it will become a major disaster if not adjusted and enforced. '