iNews Cayman is a big supporter of Care2 and its petitions. We carry most of the ones they send us and are very happy too. But we don’t publish nor support all.

The reason is we are sometimes not too sure if the “facts” and complaints the petition is about are 100% correct. If there is any doubt we don’t publish.

Although Care2 have not sent us a petition regarding the Cayman Islands Turtle Farm we did receive one from the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA). They are petitioning for the closure of sea turtle farming and in particular the Cayman Islands operation as it is the only sea farming and conservation organisation in the world. Note the word “conservation”.

We subsequently received an excellent response to the “spurious claims” made by WSPA from the Cayman Turtle Farm and you can find the story “Cayman Turtle Farm fights back against WSPA’s Stop Sea Turtle Farming” on our site published Oct. 12^th at http://www.ieyenews.com/2012/10/cayman-turtle-farm-fights-back-against-wspas-stop-sea-turtle-farming/

We also made reference to the unfortunate incident that occurred on 16^th July 2012 at the Turtle Farm when there was a leak in a main pipe that supplied sea water due to it breaking under the Northwest Point road by the farm. When the pipe was being repaired the back-up system failed, affecting the water supply to several tanks and nearly 300 turtles dying because there was insufficient water. No one noticed and the news of the disaster was kept from the public for two weeks.

That incident and the long silence by the Turtle Farm in its disclosure of the incident has done much damage and a certain amount of credibility to their conservation claims lost.

The attack by WSPA is not only directed at The Cayman Turtle Farm but also at Island Wildlife Encounter, an entity in existence for over 40 years dedicated to sea turtle research, reproduction, display and conservation.

In the response to the WSPA’s claims of  turtles being so stressed at the Farm they turn on each other  by biting and maiming, inbreeding results in turtles being born with no eyes, turtles are crushed because of the cramped conditions and are diseased, the Turtle Farm said they could not find anything to support it.

Of course, they may not have admitted to it if it had happened and the previous incident not being admitted by them immediately gives weight to that argument. However, there is no evidence produced by the WSPA to substantiate any of their claims.

The Turtle Farm say they have gone to extraordinary lengths to assist the WSPA and immediately they learnt of it they instigated an immediate review of their operations.  They have also agreed to a fully independent assessment of their operations, scheduled to take place in December of this year. They also claim that representatives of the Cayman Islands Government, have met with the WSPA both in the Cayman Islands and in the United Kingdom to discuss and review the group’s concerns.

The Turtle Farm’s statement says:

“In all meetings and communications with the WSPA thus far, it has been clearly stated that the decision to alter the business model and objectives of the Cayman Turtle Farm would require a decision by the Cayman Islands Cabinet, and a timeline was agreed and subsequently adjusted by both parties to enable these high-level discussions to take place as an important part of the sequence.”

Maybe the WSPA has noticed the reluctance of the Cayman Islands Government to pass any laws regarding conservation and any such laws that had been “agreed” between parties get “watered” down by the MLA responsible before it gets to be passed, even if it ever gets that far.

A case in point is the long awaited National Conservation Bill that has been continually placed on the back burner. Even after much world wide press coverage about Cayman’s eroding wild life and warnings by scientists, Environment Minister Mark Scotland said in an interview with the Caymanian Compass, the bill he HOPES to present to the Legislative Assembly may be in a “toned down” form!

According to his logic, legislation is never perfect the first time it’s tabled so it is better to have something, even if it isn’t any good, than nothing.

It seems that the WSPA has viewed all this and decided not to wait, and in the words of the Turtle Farm, “embarked on a smear campaign to coerce the Cayman Turtle Farm to submit to the WSPA’s demands despite that fact that their allegations are unfounded, erroneous and sensationalised.”

So, this is what happens when we get a reputation of instant money before prohibitive legislation and successive governments’ blindness in not looking behind the picture. People will not wait. And if they have a one-sided agenda anyway they have plenty of ammunition to back it up and not wait.

However, this is one petition that we will not endorse, nor do we have any reservations about not doing so. Even if we have to some degree brought it on ourselves.