Poaching and Selling a Threatened New Jersey Turtle

The diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) or simply terrapin, is a species of turtle native to the brackish coastal tidal marshes of the eastern and southern United States and Bermuda.

A Pennsylvania man has pleaded guilty in federal court to smuggling protected turtles from the Jersey Shore. Prosecutors said that for more than three years he poached thousands of diamondback terrapins and their eggs from coastal marshes in New Jersey.

Why? Money. His profits over that three-year span were more than $530,000, according to court documents. The officials also seized over 3,400 diamondback terrapin hatchlings from his home in 2017. The hatchlings were returned to their New Jersey habitat.

New Jersey banned collecting, possessing and transporting diamondback terrapins in 2016. Selling the turtles is a violation of the Lacey Act which is the nation’s oldest wildlife trafficking statute and prohibits falsely labeling packages containing wildlife, fish, or plants.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducted the investigation with assistance from the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife.

The common Diamondback name refers to the diamond pattern on top of its shell (carapace)

The poacher faces a maximum of five years’ imprisonment, three years of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000 and restitution to New Jersey for the value of the turtles.

The diamondback terrapin is the only species of turtle that lives in the brackish waters of New Jersey’s coastal marshes and estuaries. They are protected under state law and by an international treaty, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, recognizing the terrapin as threatened.

In the 1900s, the species was once considered a delicacy to eat and was hunted almost to extinction. The population also decreased due to the development of coastal areas and wounds from motorboat propellers. Accidental trapping of the turtles in recreational crab traps has also caused a threat to the turtles.

The diamondback terrapin is listed as an endangered species in Rhode Island, a threatened species in Massachusetts and is considered a "species of concern" in Georgia, Delaware, Alabama, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Virginia.

New Jersey banned collecting, possessing and transporting diamondback terrapins in 2016.

Earthwatch Institute, a global non-profit that teams volunteers with scientists to conduct important environmental research, supports a research program called "Tagging the Terrapins of the Jersey Shore." This program allows volunteers to explore the coastal sprawl of New Jersey’s Ocean County on Barnegat Bay, one of the most extensive salt marsh ecosystems on the East Coast, in search of this ornate turtle.

Sources:
wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamondback_terrapin
philly.com/science/
nj1015.com

Ocean Fun Day Saturday May 20 at Island Beach State Park

Island Beach State Park, the jewel of New Jersey’s State Park System, will give visitors an opportunity to watch the release of young diamondback turtles into their natural habitat, as well as other youth-oriented environmental activities during Ocean Fun Day on Saturday, May 20. The diamondback terrapin release is new this year at Island Beach State Park.

Island Beach State Park is one of the few remaining undeveloped barrier beaches on the north Atlantic coast. With approximately 3,000 acres of beaches, dunes, maritime forests, freshwater wetlands and tidal marshes, the park is home to the state’s largest osprey colony, as well as peregrine falcons, wading birds, shorebirds, waterfowl and songbirds.

This year’s 14th annual Ocean Fun Days are scheduled from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 20 at Island Beach State Park in Ocean County, and on Sunday, May 21 at the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium’s headquarters in the historic Fort Hancock section of Sandy Hook in Monmouth County. Admission and parking are free. A free shuttle bus will be available at both parks to take visitors to tour sites.

Ocean Fun Day events encourage visitors to enjoy a day outdoors while learning about New Jersey’s coastal ecosystem through educational displays, nature tours and interactive programs that include seining, crafts, a scavenger hunt, touch tanks, youth fishing clinics and more.

Diamondback Terrapin

“Ocean Fun Day is a great way to teach visitors about the critical, yet fragile coastal ecosystems along the unspoiled barrier island that is Island Beach State Park,” said Director of Parks and Forestry Mark Texel. “The planned activities will show why Island Beach is a unique classroom to learn how ocean dynamics create barrier islands, and how the plants and animals here have adapted and thrived.”

Events at Island Beach State Park will be at Ocean Bathing Area 1, which is about four miles past the park’s gatehouse.

The turtle release will be done by students and faculty from Project Terrapin and the Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science (MATES). The Sandy Hook event will include guided tours of Sandy Hook sites and an open house at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/James J. Howard Marine Sciences Laboratory. Both sites will also offer a program on how to build a better sand castle by understanding the science behind cohesion, adhesion and surface tension.

“Ocean Fun Days have become a wonderful tradition for New Jersey’s families and visitors, and that is due to strong partnerships,” said Claire Antonucci, Executive Director of the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium. “This year, we are delighted to partner with the Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science (MATES) to add a new activity to Ocean Fun Days with students and faculty from MATES Project Terrapin inviting the public to join them to release young diamondback turtles back into their natural habitat.”

Ocean Fun Days is presented by founding sponsor New Jersey Natural Gas, in partnership with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium, Asbury Park Press, New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry, National Park Service and NOAA.

The New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium is an affiliation of colleges, universities and other groups dedicated to advancing knowledge and stewardship of New Jersey’s marine and coastal environment through innovative research, education and outreach programs. To learn more about the consortium or Ocean Fun Days, call (732) 872-1300, Ext. 19 or visit: njseagrant.org

For more information about Island Beach State Park, visit: islandbeachnj.org/ or find the park’s Facebook page at: facebook.com/islandbeachstatepark/


SOURCE: nj.gov/dep/newsrel/2017/17_0045.htm

Diamondback Terrapins

There is a proposed ban on the commercial harvesting of diamondback terrapins in New Jersey. These turtles could be on the edge of extinction if more measures are not taken to protect them.

In 2013, the Fish and Wildlife Service alerted the state that it had discovered several harvesters had illegally trapped 3,522 adult terrapins from South Jersey marshes for sale to an aquaculture facility in Maryland for breeding.

This medium-size turtle is the only species in the world that lives exclusively in brackish waters with some salinity. It has a patterned brown, black, and sometimes orange and yellow carapace.

They are vulnerable to overharvesting because they "brumate," or hibernate in the mud, at shallow depths, in large clusters during the winters. Commercial harvesters currently are permitted to collect them by hand in New Jersey, but wildlife investigators found many terrapins were raked from the marshy bottom by illegal harvesters using crab dredges and were then scooped into nets.

After the discovery of the illegal harvesting, the Fish and Wildlife Service recommended the state "immediately close the season . . . and begin to develop a longer term solution," the DEP said. The season this year was curtailed in January.

The federal government classifies the terrapin, known as Malaclemys terrapin, as a species of "special concern" and the majority of the states where the terrapins reside have already imposed complete bans or strict controls. Maryland has prohibited all harvesting since 2007, and Delaware places a limit of four terrapins per day during its designated season. Some states, including Rhode Island, have declared the terrapin an endangered species. New Jersey and New York are the last to take action on the terrapins.

SOURCES:

articles.philly.com

www.dailyitem.com/news/

Diamondback Terrapin Harvest Season Closed

Due to continued concerns about harvest pressures on northern diamondback terrapins in state coastal areas, DEP Commissioner Bob Martin has signed an Administrative Order immediately closing the remaining two months of the commercial harvest season.

In 2002, the Northern diamondback terrapin was listed as a species of special concern in New Jersey, but this status has not been officially adopted under the Endangered Species Conservation Act and terrapins are still considered to be a game species in NJ with an open season from November 1 to March 31

The Division of Fish and Wildlife has been working with the Marine Fisheries Council, neighboring states, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and terrapin experts to develop management strategies to enhance protection of the terrapins in order to sustain the species in New Jersey.

Northern Diamondback Terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin terrapin) are native to New Jersey. They inhabit coastal salt marshes and estuaries along the Atlantic Coast and Delaware Bay. They live exclusively in brackish water (a mixture of both salt and fresh water).

Diamondback terrapins, so named for the diamond-shaped patterns on its shell, are more closely related to freshwater turtles than marine turtles, and spend their entire life cycle in coastal marshes. They are an important part of the ecosystem, feeding on snails that can overgraze marsh grasses, leaving them barren mudflats.

They are threatened by habitat loss, illegal trapping, mortality from being drowned in crab traps, and especially by road mortality as they cross busy roads.

Terrapins were once very common and used as a main food source of protein by Native Americans and then European settlers.

They were hunted so extensively that they almost faced species extinction by the early 1900s. They became a delicacy here and in Europe and were exported. During the Depression, demand fell off and the population was able to make enough of a recovery to avoid extinction.

In the past, commercial harvesting of terrapins in New Jersey was reported on a small-scale basis. But increased demand, particularly in Asian food markets, has put excessive pressure on the species.

In a 2014 incident, more than 3,500 terrapins were harvested from two locations in southern New Jersey to provide terrapins for an out-of-state aquaculture facility that raises them for overseas markets. More than 14,000 offspring of the wild adult terrapins were then exported to Asia.

For more information, see the DEP news release at  http://www.nj.gov/dep/newsrel/2016/16_0004.htm