News
Smith's bill would curb harvesting of reptiles
February 22, 2009
State Rep. James Smith was visiting Saluda Shoals Park near Columbia a few years ago when the ranger told him the park was having trouble with poachers.It wasn't deer or doves or any other game animal the poachers were after. Instead, they were coming in and taking out truckloads of turtles.
"The unregulated taking of turtles in this state is a tremendous problem," said Smith, D-Columbia.
Smith's son and his fellow Cub Scouts decided to take up the cause, and Smith authored legislation placing limits on the taking of turtles, but it failed to gain any traction that year. Or the next. Or the next. Or the next.
But like the creatures it seeks to protect, the legislation has inched its way forward. The House Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee unanimously approved the bill on Thursday, and it could go before the full House this week.
The bill would make it illegal to remove more than 10 turtles, either of one species or a combination of species, from South Carolina at a time, and a maximum of 20 turtles per year. Each turtle over the limit would result in a fine of $200, so if a poacher were caught with 100 turtles, he would face a fine of $18,000.
"The time has long since come," Smith said. "This is a big business, and we need some regulations."
Regional issue
Turtle poaching is a problem that extends outside of South Carolina's borders, said Cary Chamblee, a former associate director of the state Department of Natural Resources who is now a lobbyist for environmental groups across the state. He said millions of turtles from states throughout the Southeast are harvested and shipped to Asian countries, where they are sold for food."South Carolina has its share leaving the state, and they are coming from public waters," Chamblee said. "We don't really know how many, because it's not regulated."
Chamblee said the sheer numbers being taken are an immediate concern, but there's also a long-term threat.
A female turtle isn't able to reproduce until she is 15 to 20 years old, he said.
"If lots of females of that age are being taken, there won't be any for reproduction," Chamblee said. "They're not like deer, which reproduce in less than a year."
Environmental impact
Whitfield Gibbons of the Savannah River Ecology Lab, a University of Georgia research arm, said the turtles are being removed with no regard for the impact to the state's ecosystems. He said turtle populations have been nearly depleted in some Asian countries, so people in those countries will pay well to have the delicacies shipped in.
"People will literally pay hundreds of dollars to have turtles on their table," he said.
Gibbons said North Carolina already has regulations in place, and Florida and Louisiana are moving in that direction. That makes it crucial for South Carolina to act now, he said.
"The last state standing will see the greatest impact on its turtle population," Gibbons said. "As other states make it illegal to remove large quantities, more people will focus on South Carolina. We're not trying to keep third-graders from going out and catching a pet turtle. All we're trying to do is keep semis loaded with turtles from leaving South Carolina."
Resistance
Not everyone, however, is on board with the bill. The Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that represents the pet industry, issued a "PetAlert" advising its members that "limiting the number of these turtle species from in-state harvest could be detrimental to your business, therefore, we wanted to make you aware of this legislation so you can take action if warranted."Michael Maddox, PIJAC's director of legislative affairs, said protecting native populations is a worthwhile cause. But he said he's concerned about a lack of documentation by those pushing the bill.
"Having worked in this industry for 15 years, I can tell you that the number of legislative proposals that are based on unsubstantiated or non-existent data are too many for me to count," Maddox said. "I would be a little wary of whether there is a problem that needs to be addressed."
Rep. Steve Parker, R-Boiling Springs, said the pictures he saw of thousands of turtles loaded on a truck and the testimony of concerned biologists during subcommittee hearings convinced him the problem is real. He said protecting turtle populations equates to protecting the state's waterways.
"Turtles are the vultures of the waterways," Parker said. "They eat dead fish and the 'bad' aquatic plants that can choke rivers and lakes. People in South Carolina will still be able to catch turtles for pets, and they will still be allowed to trap them and eat them. We're just trying to stop 10,000 from being loaded on a truck and taken to Texas to be shipped to Asian countries."
GoUpstate.com
By Robert W. Dalton
bob.dalton@shj.com
