http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2006/03_09-16/TOP
Published March 09, 2006, The Capital, Annapolis, Md.

Supporters push ban on catching terrapins
By PAMELA WOOD, Staff Writer

The diamondback terrapin needs more research and possibly more
harvest restrictions, state natural resources officials said
yesterday, but they stopped short of endorsing a full ban on catching the state reptile.

That frustrates Marguerite Whilden of Annapolis, who's fighting to end the commercial harvest of terrapins.

"They'll collapse and disappear while they're studying them," Ms. Whilden said following a hearing before the House of Delegates Environmental Matters Committee on a bill to halt the terrapin harvest

She was the Department of Natural Resources' resident terrapin expert until her position was axed in 2003. She has since founded the Terrapin Institute in Shady Side, where she rescues and releases terrapins.

She's worried that because of increasing harvest pressure from people who use the reptile in Asian dishes, the terrapin could be fished out of existence.

To help make her case, she brought along students from St. Andrew's United Methodist Day School in Edgewater.

"It is an embarrassment that we, the citizens of Maryland, are
depleting the population of our own state symbol," Justin Zenker, a student in Georgia Perry's social studies class, told the committee. "I think we need to put an end to this excessive
harvesting."

DNR officials, however, say they can't shut down the harvest without proof that the number of terrapins is declining.

The agency has proposed a series of amendments to the bill. They
would require the state to come up with a management plan for the terrapin and develop any regulations - such as harvest restrictions - that the plan indicates are necessary, said Mike Slattery, assistant secretary for resource conservation.

Mr. Slattery said the first step will be getting the results from a federal population survey of terrapins in the Chesapeake Bay. He said the management plan and preliminary regulations could be ready as early as the spring of 2007.

Mr. Slattery said his agency prefers that lawmakers not get involved in managing species - a task he said is better left to expert scientists who can act quickly.

"That's just not an efficient way to govern," he said.

The terrapin harvest is small compared to other species. In recent years, the number of watermen reporting catching terrapins has fluctuated from five to nine. The total harvest ranges from 675 pounds to a few thousand pounds, according to the DNR.

But if more people want to eat terrapins, the harvest will only grow, Ms. Whilden said.

"If the price goes up, there won't be any terrapins left in the bay," she said.

The bill's sponsor, Del. Virginia Clagett, D-West River, said there's room for compromise between the terrapin advocates and the DNR.

"I'm delighted DNR is at least giving it some thought," she said. "At last the terrapin is getting some recognition for the plight it's in."

Meanwhile, another bill from Ms. Clagett to designate May 13 annually as Diamondback Terrapin Day passed the House of Delegates yesterday. It now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Capital News Service reporter Connor Adams Sheets contributed to this story.

Published March 09, 2006, The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
Copyright © 2006 The Capital, Annapolis, Md.