I haven't seen all the fine print but it says private individuals can collect up to one a day for "Personal USE" with no sale of wild turtles. I take that as meaning you can`t sell the ones collected but you can sell the offspring.

Their saying that this will be the strictest turtle conservation regulation in the country . It's going to pass.

The reason their against setting bag limits and use thru sustainable harvest is because it can`t be enforced . It would take a full time army. The commercial guys don't know when to quit . Tell them they can catch 5 or 100 a day what does it matter ? They will still take every last turtle and dig up as many eggs as they can.

The commercial guys are catching thousands of lbs every week. One guy said he caught a thousand lbs in one day. Their yanking 40 lb female softies out left and right. It's horrific.

These guys might not all get caught poaching but their not getting away with anything ether. Everyone knows what's going on. I certainly don't want breeders or the pet trade in general to be lumped in with these people. The hunters can't blame this on anyone but themselves.

There's no way it can go on and it's cruel. Turtles aren't like other reptiles. They take forever to mature , have low survival rates and unlike snakes , lizards etc, People LOVE turtles. When you start abusing turtles the way the meat trappers do your raising the bar to whole new level in terms of public concern.

Ernie Eison
WESTWOOD ACRES REPTILE FARM INC.

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