Welfare and Environmental Implications of Farmed Sea Turtles

Arena, P.; Warwick, Clifford; Steedman, Catrina

doi:10.1007/s10806-013-9465-8

Cited by 35 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Many bacteria have been identified as the cause of diseases in marine turtles kept in captivity (Chuen-Im et al, 2010 ; Arena et al, 2014 ). In addition, many of these bacteria may be pathogenic to humans (Warwick et al, 2013 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isolation, characterization, and antibiotic resistance of Vibrio spp. in sea turtles from Northwestern Mexico

et al. 2015

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The aerobic oral and cloacal bacterial microbiota and their antimicrobial resistance were characterized for 64 apparently healthy sea turtles captured at their foraging grounds in Ojo de Liebre Lagoon (OLL), Baja California Sur (BCS), Mexico (Pacific Ocean) and the lagoon system of Navachiste (LSN) and Marine Area of Influence (MAI), Guasave, Sinaloa (Gulf of California). A total of 34 black turtles (Chelonia mydas agassizii) were sampled in OLL and eight black turtles and 22 olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) were sampled in LSN and MAI, respectively from January to December 2012. We isolated 13 different species of Gram-negative bacteria. The most frequently isolated bacteria were Vibrio alginolyticus in 39/64 (60%), V. parahaemolyticus in 17/64 (26%), and V. cholerae in 6/64 (9%). However, V. cholerae was isolated only from turtles captured from the Gulf of California (MAI). Among V. parahaemolyticus strains, six O serogroups and eight serovars were identified from which 5/17 (29.4%) belonged to the pathogenic strains (tdh+ gene) and 2/17 (11.7%) had the pandemic clone (tdh+ and toxRS/new+). Among V. cholerae strains, all were identified as non-O1/non-O139, and in 4/6 (66%) the accessory cholera enterotoxin gene (ace) was identified but without virulence gene zot, ctxA, and ctxB. Of the isolated V. parahaemolyticus, V. cholerae, and V. alginolyticus strains, 94.1, 33.4, and 100% demonstrated resistance to at least one commonly prescribed antibiotic (primarily to ampicillin), respectively. In conclusion, the presence of several potential (toxigenic) human pathogens in sea turtles may represent transmission of environmental microbes and a high-risk of food-borne disease. Therefore, based on the fact that it is illegal and unhealthy, we discourage the consumption of sea turtle meat or eggs in northwestern Mexico.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isolation, characterization, and antibiotic resistance of Vibrio spp. in sea turtles from Northwestern Mexico

et al. 2015

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“…This involved press statements with accompanying photographs of the turtle tanks, as well as issuing investigative reports and using influential personalities such as Sir Paul McCartney to back the campaign. Concerns raised included: animal welfare conditions (Arena et al, 2014), creation of "artificial" (i.e. in addition to traditional consumption) demand by providing meat to tourists (WSPA, 2013), inbreeding and mixed genetic ancestry (WSPA, 2012) and high operating costs (D'Cruze, Alcock & Donnelly, 2015).…”

Section: Case Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Media framing of the Cayman Turtle Farm: Implications for conservation conflicts

Walker

Godley

Nuño

2019

Journal for Nature Conservation

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Conflicts over natural resource use and management often arise where groups have different goals or priorities. The media can play an important dual role in these conflicts; article content might offer insights about public opinion, whilst media may shape debates and how issues are perceived by the public and decision-makers. Wildlife farming is a contentious conservation tool attracting the attention of worldwide media, and associated conflicts among different interest groups may undermine its applicability. We investigated the media's portrayal of the Cayman Turtle Farm (CTF), a facility in the Cayman Islands which breeds green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) for human consumption, to investigate how the media presents information about wildlife farming (i.e. framing), consider its potential roles influencing conflicts and explore how it can be used for conservation conflict management. Content analysis was used to compare framing, article valence, and stakeholder representation in 634 newspaper articles from the international and local media. These media stories were framed in terms of: tourism, conflict, conservation, culture/community, management, and utilisation. International articles most often described CTF as a tourism facility. However, during a media campaign by an international animal welfare group, CTF was also often depicted as a source of controversy. Trade in turtle products was mostly debated in older articles. Local media mainly had a financial focus. Conflict framing was associated with a negative article valence, and conflict framed articles were significantly more likely to contain no conservation information. Mentions of environmental interest groups were significantly associated with negative articles, whereas academics were significantly more likely to be mentioned in positive articles. Conservationists must consider stakeholder objectives from the outset of interventions and be aware of the multiple roles the media might play. Media analysis and effectively harnessing the potential of media outlets should be considered as tools for managing conservation conflicts.

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“…One should note that this rather sobering outcome is consistent with the general wisdom of conservationists that sea turtle farming is expensive and of questionable ecological viability. In particular, head starting programs are generally considered as a rather controversial sea turtles’ protection policy (see, e.g., Ross 1999; Bell et al 2005; Webb, Manolis, and Gray 2008; Arena, Warwick, and Steedman 2014). Apart enabling research leading to a better understanding the biology of sea turtles, it is not clear that sea turtle farming can be beneficial for the conservation of populations in the wild (Ross 1999).…”

Section: Wtp For the Protection Of Sea Turtlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Protecting Species through Legislation: The Case of Sea Turtles

Brei¹,

Pérez-Barahona²,

Strobl³

2019

American J Agri Economics

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We evaluate the effectiveness of legislation in reducing the negative impacts of beachfront lighting on sea turtle nesting activity, one of the main threats to the species. To this end we construct a time varying index of ordinance effectiveness across Florida counties and combine this with loggerhead nesting data to create a panel data set covering a twenty-six year period. Our econometric findings show that such legislation can significantly increase nesting activity, where current levels of protection result in an additional 34%. Using our estimates within a calibrated population model we also demonstrate that legislation can reduce the time to the animals' extinction. Finally, when considering estimates of local willingness to pay for sea turtle preservation, we show that alternatively raising sea turtles in captivity under a head start program may be prohibitively expensive.

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Welfare and Environmental Implications of Farmed Sea Turtles

Cited by 35 publications

References 23 publications

Isolation, characterization, and antibiotic resistance of Vibrio spp. in sea turtles from Northwestern Mexico

Isolation, characterization, and antibiotic resistance of Vibrio spp. in sea turtles from Northwestern Mexico

Media framing of the Cayman Turtle Farm: Implications for conservation conflicts

Protecting Species through Legislation: The Case of Sea Turtles

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