Turtle Farm denies cruelty, disease or genetic defects
(CNS): In the face of further accusations about disease, cruelty and genetic abnormalities at the Cayman Turtle Farm, officials released a second statement Thursday denying the allegations and claiming conservation credentials. As the international campaign against the farm mounts, CTF said there were plans to release 150 turtles this year to add to the 31,000 that have been released during the farm’s 40 plus year history. Following more damning criticism this week, this time from the Sea Turtle Conservancy (STC), the CTF called the allegations “at best misleading and at worst untrue,” claiming that significant strides had been made to eradicate disease. (Photo: A Turtle with no eyes taken by the WSPA team at the farm earlier this year)
Despite the photographic evidence and other scientific peer reviewed analysis and research presented by the Word Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) recently, the farm also denied that any turtles found at the Cayman Turtle Farm had any of the genetic defects alleged.
“Cases of genetic mutation at the Cayman Turtle Farm are extremely rare, and seem to be in line with the incidence of similar defects in the wild populations,” the Turtle Farm said in another lengthy press statement in the face of the increasing international criticisms.
As the STC announced its backing for the WSPA campaign (which had 49,208 signatures at 8am Friday) to persuade the CTF to move to a purely conservation model and give up farming, it pointed to the dangers posed by releasing farmed turtles into the wild.
“Well-documented diseases found primarily in captive turtles can be spread to wild populations,” the world's oldest marine turtle research and conservation organization said. It said the release programme gives a false impression that conservation can be accomplished simply by breeding turtles in tanks and the releasing them.
“The Cayman Turtle Farm tries to promote its operation as something beneficial to wild turtle populations,” said David Godfrey, Sea Turtle Conservancy Executive Director. “Despite the lack of evidence that the turtle release program actually benefits the wild population, countless individuals around the world are led to believe that the program works and that it is a successful option for saving and restoring wild sea turtle numbers.”
Pushing back against the criticisms, the farm said it was now seeing solid returns on its conservation efforts as tagged adult females return to Cayman beaches to nest in increasing numbers. However, the CTF failed to note that less than a dozen female turtles have actually returned to local beaches.
Refuting allegations about diseases getting into wild populations, the Cayman Turtle Farm said it follows rigorous release protocols for all animals returned to the wild. “Juvenile Green Sea Turtles are selected for release; health checked and given appropriate preventative treatments; and quarantined for 30 days,” it said.
The farm pointed to 150 research papers released over the years, as well as requests for educational internships and research partnerships in support of its claimed conservation efforts.
Even though there have been a number of reported problems in the past regarding the hatch rates, the CTF said 2012 had “been a very positive nesting season” for the Farm, with over 41,000 eggs laid at the facility and an increase in this year’s hatch rate.
“Through recent satellite-tagged turtle releases, we are also able to capture data on the behaviour of Green sea turtles released into the wild – where they go and what they do, and thus far we have seen that the satellite-tracked turtles we have released into the wild have adaptedwell to their new habitat,” the Farm said.
“The Cayman Turtle Farm tags turtles with a 'living tag' which was developed by Professor John Hendrickson and Lupe Hendrickson of the University of Arizona. This tagging method involves the auto grafting of a small, white dot of belly shell onto the turtle's dark coloured back. This is done when the turtle is only a few days old. As the animal grows, the dot grows with it. This tagging method is tremendously significant as it is the only method whereby a tiny sea turtle hatching may be identified as a 300 pound adult more than 15 years later on a nesting beach.”
Denying any animal cruelty, officials at the Cayman Turtle Farm said animal husbandry was in accordance with internationally accepted humane standards. “We are trying to conserve these turtles, and increase their numbers. Our efforts are devoted to their well-being and care,” the Farm stated.
However, it made no reference to the allegations made by STC about the 300 green turtles that perished recently as a result of them being left to burn in the sun when a holding tank malfunctioned during a leak repair.
The CTF said, however, that its primary focus was on a “unique, safe and sustainable tourism attraction” that also supported the research and conservation of sea turtles. “The Cayman Turtle Farm looks forward to directly addressing the WSPA’s allegations, and by extension the STC’s support of this campaign, with an independent review of our operations scheduled for December 2012,” the Farm officials added.
It is not clear if the review will also look at the financial operations at the farm which continues to draw down a subsidy from government each year of in excess of CI$10 million. Despite charging visitors to the facility an entrance fee and having tripled the price of the meat it produces in 2010, the facility continues to be a significant drain on public resources.
See full statement from CTF below.
Category: Science and Nature
Slick Willy: "Since then I have always raised "the turtle issue" with new staff to see what they say. As far as i am concerned anyone who is in favor of the disgusting practise of eating of turtle meat should have no expectation of advancement in an international client lead business…".
And there you have it folks – a clear admission of discrimination against Caymanians in the workplace – if you eat turtle you will not be promoted. I hope we never see another post claiming discrimination against Caymanians doesn't exist. What is worse is that the poster obviously believes this unlawful behaviour is acceptable and so is quite brazen about declaring it on CNS and there are a lot of posters indicating their support – a good indication of the extent of the problem. But it doesn't stop at those who eat turtle. Obviously the poster would have the same reaction if this client had indicated his displeasure at having to deal with a black person.
Was there another way forward consistent with good business sense? Yes, of course. As I said in my earlier post, rather than the absurdly making eating turtle a bar to promotion, the poster could have taken a decision to mentor his Caymanian employees explaining that this may be a sensitive issue among the nationals of some other countries. But that would demonstrate good faith. Instead it is used as an excuse to discriminate against Caymanians.
If any employee who has been subject to this type of discriminatory treatment is reading this post it should be reported to the Dept. of Employment Relations immediately, and, if necessary, legal action should be taken.
Where was the reference to discrimination against Caymanians? The poster simply expressed a view about people who support the eating of turtles without mention of nationality. Similar points could be made about people who expressed support for apartheid or stoning of adulterers. It sounds like a perfectly objective criteria of determining whether someone has sufficient emotional intelligence in the international arena.
The poster did not "simply express a view" about them. He/she said that they would be excluded from promotion. On any view that is unlawful discrimination.
Comparisons with stoning adulterers and supporting apartheid are ridiculous.
There was no mention of discrimination against Caymanians.
It is not a "sensitive issue in other countries", it is a barbaric outdated practice which is contrary to civilised norms.
Eating turtle is no more barbaric than eating any other meat.
Get over yourself. Not everyone feels the way you do.
Yes, only civilised world citizens agree.
Yes, "white man's burden" and all that. lol. I love how the latent racism comes out in all of this.
@ the two posters below, that's right you can only discriminate against someone on the basis of culture if you specifically name who you are discriminating against.
Don't be ridiculous. Turtle is the quintessential ethnic Caymanian food. Cayman has the only turtle farm in the world. The vast majority of those persons who eat turtle in Cayman are Caymanians.
It would be like saying anyone who eats kosher food is barred from promotion, but mind you, we didn't say Jews we just said those who eat kosher food.
A court would have no difficulty determining who you were discriminating against and that it was on the basis of culture.
To all those who gave the poster "8:22 above" thumbs down and seem to be in agreement with "Mr. Slick Willie further down" I would like to say that you should not be too eager to put down something that you have little or no knowledge of. That being the meat of the Green Sea Turtle.
For your info and without getting into too much detail on how healthy the meat is, I'll just say, for years the people of these Islands have eaten "turtle" and not once have I heard of anyone getting sick from it, except perhaps by eating too much of this deliciously healthy food. None other than the "Great Winston Churchill" that's right, England's Greatest Hero, sang the praises of the Turtle Soup that was produced right here in The Cayman Islands and was shipped all over the world in the 1960s and 70s. There was no part of the Turtle that was wasted and as far as the inhumane way that some may report that the animals at the Turtle Farm are being treated I do not believe that this is done knowingly but inadvertently. Unlike the animals [that produced that lovely steak you had last evening] are treated and are forced fed with growth hormones and given antibiotics which now lie within "your" system. Whereas the Turtle Stew I had at Miss Vivines Kitchen in East End on Sunday was not only healthy but deliciously healthy!
Here's some info you might want to take a look at Slick Willy, it's about something else that you might not be aware of when you are having that corn on the cob which is a popular treat in your country!
Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Monsanto's herbicide Roundup, which is
sprayed in large quantities on genetically engineered, so-called "Roundup
Ready," crops. Such crops are genetically engineered to withstand otherwise
lethal applications of the herbicide.
According to the German journal Ithaka, every single urine sample collected
from city dwellers around Berlin tested positive for glyphosate, with values
ranging from 0.5 to 2 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml) – that's between five and
20 times the permissible upper limit for glyphosate in German drinking water,
which is set at 0.1 ng/ml. According to the featured article:
"Glyphosate probably entered human populations over the past 10 years
through its increasing presence in daily foods such as meat and dairy
products, vegetable and fruit produce and grains products. Glyphosatelaced
genetically modified Roundup soya which enters the animal food
chain, is only one of the risk factors.
Even more dangerous now is the increasing use of herbicides in the EU
over the past several years for the desiccation of entire stocks of
harvestable crop.
'Spraying crops to death,' as desiccation should be more aptly called,
means that herbicides are being sprayed directly on the crops shortly
before they are to be harvested to facilitate the harvest by uniformly killing
off all living plants (including the crops) on the field.
If crops cannot fully mature due to excessive rain, as was
Sorry if I delayed in responding, I was busy. I was busy in a business that employs and promotes many Caymanians.
You are entitled to your views. I disagree with them. Employees are entitled to complain to whoever they want. If their complaints are not upheld I sure hope they have their resumes ready.
You are clearly the nasty expat employer type we have been hearing about.
It's not a matter of your view versus mine. Your behaviour is unquestionably unlawful as well as morally reprehensible. I suggest you get some legal advice.
With cancer being the number 1 cause of death in Cayman, I dont think there is anything organic or natural about eating the turtles from the turtle farm.
Tank polution, unnatural diets, vaccinations, antibiotics, disease and mutations… I don’t think these animals are safe for human consumption.
It’s a cop out to talk about raising them as a food source. With the level of obesity and obesity related diseases in Cayman, there obviously is no shortage of food for the country.
The caymanian argument that eating an endangered animal is their cultural and economic right is the same as when the South fought to keep slavery for their economic and cultural rights.
Just because something is a part of your history it doesn’t make it right. I am one caymanian who refuses to eat turtle partly because its endangered and partly because I don’t eat things that live in cess pools. I don’t eat those crabs that come out of the dump during crab season either.
@ slick willy. I understand your point of view from a business point of view. If eating turtle is disgusting to you please keep it to yourself as im sure wherever you come from they probally eat stuff that we would find undesireable. Thanks
Undesirable maybe but not endangered and protected by the CITES convention.
So typical of Europe, always trying to tell other nations what to do. Oh wait a minute….they just totalydisregard others and do as they please in the name of profits.
Before ANYONE should tell Cayman what to do environmentally (of which I am for protection of ALL species, not just those that are fashionable for public relations) I think EUROPE and the USA, should 1) deal with the major env degredation they are causing, through MASSIVE fossil fuel burning, 2) industrial waste being dumped into the ocean and ground water 3) Go after countries like Japan and China who use massive dragnets to scrap every living creature off the sea floor; but hey, they are economic partners, so can't upset them too much!!!
Some of the greates degredation done to the biomes over the past few centuries have been committed in Europe or by Europe. THAT IS A FACT!!!!! Don't believe me, go to university and get a degre in Enviromental Studies; there are several chapters on this that are part of the program.
Cayman has to be responsible for its share of degredation and responsible for ensuring that natural resources are not consumed beyond their carrying capacity. So, I do believe that the Turtle Farm should be focused on scientific research and preservation. However, I do understand the cultural aspect of the Caymanian people. There is a balance, always is. Just like how some like Bulga Cavier, or Kidney Pot Pie, or Green Chicken, Caymanians like Turtle.
It is therefor their responsibility that they ensure that they take the step to prevent the distruction of this species.
I often wonder though, how many turtles that are released, either survive; and if they do, how many end up in the nets of a Japan trolling ship, along with the dolphins, sharks and anything else that swim in the water.
Where are all the supposedly released turtles? I've never seen one on a cayman beach.
I guess it's hard to get about with all the congenital abnormalities these poor chaps have. pobably can only swim backwards
here's a delectable dish for those with a taste for borderline endangered and exotic speices – one eyed turtle soup with all the trimmings (salmonella, ecoli etc). Yep its only available in the cayman islands
Here's a poll for the tourists: would you rather: a) take your children to the beach on a magical moonlight evening to see adorable hatchlings scamper down to the caribbean sea,
or b) take your children to see adorabie baby sea turtles who are clearly in need of immediate rescue from a septic slime filled tank and who are ultimately going to have have pretty little heads chopped off
the place is an embarrassment !!!
You will not be able to reason with many of these people. They have grown up totally isolated. Many of them believe that Genesis is an accurate summary of history. So science and reason and evidence mean nothing. Change will come from external pressure, probably through the UK.
People, see my previous comment I made on previous article, and pay a visit to the site – http://www.mercyforanimals.org/ … for all the facts you need to know about farmed animals and the reasons why the world need to change its habits that is destroying our ozone layer and prmoting torture and cruelty. Peace
I remember once being out on a marketing dinner with out of town clients with a junior member of staff. At some point the topic of eating turtle came up, initially because the clients thought it was a joke told to tourists. At this point the junior colleague starting talking about the wonders of eating endangered creatures. It was clear that the clients were disgusted. I made sure that afterwards that the colleague was to play no part in international marketing going forward. How could anyone be so naive? Since then I have always raised "the turtle issue" with new staff to see what they say. As far as i am concerned anyone who is in favor of the disgusting practise of eating of turtle meat should have no expectation of advancement in an international client lead business since they are clearly out of touch with the real world. Their attitude is inconsistent with our corporate responsibility policy
I.e. you are discriminating against Caymanians on a cultural basis. Another excuse to stick it to the Caymanians. How about you just say to your Caymanian colleagues to be aware of the sensitivities on the issue? But that wouldn't serve your purpose would it?
truth hurts…maybe things will change when caymanians start taking responsibility for something…
How about you respond to the point.
Lies also hurt, but why don't you respond to the poster's point?
my appeal to all parents….
don't bring ur kids to places like turtle farm, the dolphin prisons….or even seaworld……
animal captivity freak shows belong in the 19th century….
the usual denial mentality……just look at your elected officials…..
when was the last time a caymanian took responsibility for anything???
When was the last time a Caymanian took responsibility for anything… might as well ask when the last time was an expat did the same?
When this first blew up and some posters kept pointing out that theirs was not the only culture (developed or otherwise) to eat exotic or other meat farmed in less than desirable conditions, other posts responded with the old saw of the neo-racist caught in the act which is thattwo wrongs don't make a right. Well one wrong acknowledged doesn't necessarily make the unacknowledged wrong (s) right either. Although it does make it more forgettable.
Common sense and academic theory suggests that anyone who wants someone else to change their behaviour gets better results from dialogue rather than condescending rants, and yes this may mean acknowledging that their own behaviour could do with some improvement too. Shocking!
To the poster who suggested that eating turtle– or not wanting to burn people who do at the stake– should disbar people from certain jobs: well do we think that's how China got to be a global business power, by deciding that they wouldn't hire execs who ate those items of their cuisine at which foreign business turned up their noses? Really? Leaving aside the context of this mysterious business dinner, tsk, tsk old thing. Don't worry though, its no longer a secret that parochialism and racism now only equate to success in the Cayman Islands, don't you know.
Is it so surprising that people with such outlandish dietary preferences would also let their tastes in bdsm affect immigration policy?
try addressing the issue at hand…..zzzzzzzz
To poster 10:49 you get what you pay for ! if you wanted mechanic work done there are many reputable shops on island that stand by their work .you got screwed . as for the turtle farm all is not well but such is the world .i for one don't think abortions are right but it's a big business . we kill our own everyday knowingly ,most of this is done in big developed country's. and as far as animal cruelty goes why are these people looking so far ? probably because it's too big to tackle at home.
CNS: The WSPA has many campaigns concerning animal cruelty around the world. You may want to check out their website. See here.
to 23:20
I always thought that the predominant religion on the Cayman Islands is Christianity.
The Eighth Commandment – Do not steal
The Ninth Commandment – Do not lie
The Turtle in the picture is not a living animal? if it was it would have the skin off its nose from
hitting into the wall of the tank , also the animal would not have lived to reach the size it
seems to be, think about it.
I don't understand why they get so upset. Aren't there cattle farms that have far worse conditions? Why are they not off fighting for the realease of more wild cows? Are there even still cows that live in their natural habitat? What is wrong with Cayman farming their own local food resource?
One of "many" reasons is it cost $4.00 to make $2.00 of turtle meat. Know of any working cattle farms that can afford to do this?
This organisation is not really concerned about the costs of the turtle farm. That is just prayed in aid of having the farm closed down.
Nothing is wrong with farming your own food if you can afford farming and it makes economical sense.
So according to the CTF, the WSPA is talking out of its ass?
In ten years time the debt and losses accrued on the Turtle Farm will be $160 million – currently the debt is $60 million and the losses are $10 million annually. Obviously the CTF is not financially sustainable and it needs to be significantly wound down, enabling the losses to be reduced or the facility to be run at a profit. The next Government should work with WSPA to implement both proper conservation and release programmes and the 100 Westbayers working at the Farm should be properly assisted in obtaining jobs elsewhere. Focus needs to be on conservation and its time to drop the word "Farm". Tourists will still flock to view a facility that takes good care of turtles whether there are 200 captive turtles or 7,000. And Cayman can be recognized globally as a true leader in turtle conservation. Just needs leadership, the vast majority of Cayman's public will support such a change.
I was there like a month ago, and was surprissed how the pools looked very unclean – this will obviously cannot be healtly for the turtles
The CaymanTurtle Farm has been blocked for a long time .But in its past before "oh they are so cute". When the turtle farm was making 10,000,000 CI dollars a year everyone coming from foreign would try it. When they tried it ,they said it taste like veal. The farm was able to sell turtle shell which over 200 artisans from west bay mostly was making turtle shell products. They were also able to sell turtle oil 100,000's of CI dollars in barrels as far away as europe to be made into soap, suntan oil ,skin medicine, cosmetic oils. Turtle leather the same .So the farm was a success. Its the environmentalist who are destroying the concept of fair trade.
Didn't they have crocodile and alligators as endangered species ? Well don't they eat and make leather products out of that? What about the freshwater turtle isn't that an endangered species? Well if it isn't they why is that people all around the world can eat it ? I tried some in New Orleans ,its not as good as CTF turtle.
Freshwater turtle is not endangered and is what real turtle soup is made of.
So let me get this straight. Your saying that soup made for salt water turtles is "fake "turtle soup? It may be different but it is still real turtle soup. Here in Cayman it is real turtle soup. has been for generations.
It's not fake, it's just crappy.
Who the hell cares about turtle soup? That's for tourists. The real stuff is some good old fashioned turtle stew. Mmmmm. Getting me hungry!
This is from today's Florida newspaper:As hatchlings will continue to emerge from nests through November, people are asked to stay at a distance if they spot sea turtles on the beach. People are also asked to remove beach furniture and other objects from the beach at night so there is a clear path for hatchlings to make it to the water.
Have you seen anything like that on Cayman beaches? They even refuse to turn lights of for the hatching season-do not want to inconvinence 2 legged species.
There are only 11 nesting turtles left in GC, it was 12 last year until so prats hauled one off that was on the beach to lay eggs
Those turtle realease from the farm are really working!
Conservation efforts? 41,000 eggs? Give me abreak. Did not I read a recent article about CIG not willing to turn lights off on a public beach during a hatching season, so hatched turtles would go into a sea, rather toward lthe lights? What a shame.
Apparently avarice is not a sin in Cayman. Apparently there was an exemption promised by George III.
The human condition indicates that human endeavours are rarely "all bad" or "all good". The reality is that most things are a shade of grey.
The Cayman Turtle Farm is no different. However, its grey scale is heavily weighted to the "bad" side.
Denial and damage control are not the solution. A "ground up" re-think of the enterprise is sorely required.
Unfortunately, corruption and incompetence are deeply rooting in this enterprise. Many people want the status quo to continue for those reasons.
A leader with courage and compassion is needed to fix the situation. Sadly, no one in the Cayman ruling class fits the bill. Denial seems to rule the day.
Leaving aside all the (admittedly serious) cruelty and failed conservation allegations, we simply cannot afford to keep this place going. It should be wound down – quickly. Then we can look at other government subsidised entities to see what can be done with them. We simply cannot keep going on doing what we are doing now. Particularly if the political will to deal with "free" civil service health and pension benefits is not there, which would appear to be the case.
9:40, you are certainly correct about government not having the political will to deal with the civil service. There is an ad for a Public Information Officer for GIS on their website, with a starting salary of $61,000 plus of course the usual free pension and health. Do we need ANOTHER civil servant in GIS, especially when the ministries and especially the Premier don't use GIS but use their own PR because they get better service? Only in Cayman.
Pics of turtle with no eyes but the deny genetic abnormalities…..rightie- o!
In all fairness they said that there isn't an elevated level of abnormalities, you would expect a certain number in the wild and they are seeing that many in captivity. Now whether they can substantiate that claim, or if it's believable who knows.
I'm kind of undecided on this one, they obviously supply local demand for turtle meat and if they didn't would that put a demand for meat on the wild population?
I have a feeling that if they closed the farm side of the operation down you would find more wild turtles being killed until the domestic demand for the meat dwindled or wild turtles became unavailable. They might be able to wean the population off turtle meat by cutting back sales and increasing the prices again, but if the 'value' of a wild turtle goes up than so does the incentive to catch them. Just being realistic here.
What don't they understand about pictures constituting proof of the allegations?
I spoke once with a Caymanian attorney. I don't remember what we were discussing, but I will never forget when he said: "The rule is deny everything, even when you got caught red handed. Always say this is not what it looks like". This is probably just a Cayman way of living.
Few weeks ago I was recomended a mechanic to fix my car. He is Caymanian, works for CIG he said. I paid him for the work done and when I open my trunk at home, even I, a female saw that one of the things I paid was not done. I called him and asked if he did this particular job and if he did it himself. He said: Of course, I did it myself..Then I said: It doesn't look so. He responded: I will call you right back. He called later to say that there were 2 silver cars and ANOTHER MECHANIC mistakenly did the work on the wrong car. He never returned the money.
This is another example of Caymanian denail.
You are generalising a particular experience you had with a mechanic who happened to be Caymanian. That is called prejudice.
No, I think its called criminal and not unusual.
I agree that the prejudice being expressed is not unusual, particularly here on CNS.
Because pictures can be "doctored to satisfy any desires" I am not saying that it was done but it certainly could be done. I personally do not eat turtle, and I do believe that if any cruelty or abnormalties are going on the farm shoulld be responsible enough to deal with the problems. I do not believe that any other country or person should be able to walk in here and dictate to the farm or any other business what should be done. They went to the farm with the specific reason of discrediting and took their pictures without talking with management and in so doing they are also appearing as not being credible. Does the farm need to shape up- absolutely but they do not have the bow to this body . Who do they think they are ? They do not own the world. Are they going to stop the eating of beef, chicken etc. ?
In many cases, we are dealing with people who don't believe in evolution and think the world is 6,000 years old. Evidence is not going to help.
Blanket denial is a national pastime. 150 are released? Big deal. That shows what a farce this place is. How many are slaughtered for food? Everyone in Cayman knows the truth – the place exists because of the political need to provide turtle meat and the bad business deals that leave the government exposed if the farm closes. This place is about money and politics (Cayman politics in fact being all about money).
The "conservation programme" is PR facade and has no credible merit. There is no conservation value at all. In fact by continuing to legitimise the practice of eating turtle meant, there is substantial conservation harm as the farm only support a "tradition" that is used to justify the catching and eating of nesting turtle by disgusting people on the islands.
And they are not even capable of understanding that turtles fed with fish pellets made of fish fed with genetically modified corn is not exactly “healthy vegetarians”. Add vaccinations and other veterinarian care (chemicals), filthy tanks and constant stress these turtles experience in this mix and turtle meat is not exactly what it might look like.