WSPA is disappointed to learn that the Cayman Turtle Farm (CTF) has slashed the price of turtle meat after an unusually productive breeding season. The Farm claims that this measure will help to reducing poaching on the Islands, despite no evidence to support this theory.

Talking to the CayCompass, Dr Neil D’Cruze, Wildlife Campaign Leader said: “Ultimately, simply dropping the price of sea turtle meat and effectively stimulating demand is not the answer. Currently no one knows the true scale of local Caymanian demand for green sea turtle meat”.

The new prices came into effect from 1 September 2013 and turtle stew, for example, will show a 25% price drop. But the increased production, which has enabled the Farm to drop its prices, will only have a negative impact on the animal welfare situation.

“Today there are even more sea turtles in exactly the same amount of space. Therefore overcrowding and the problems associated with it are even more of an issue” D’Cruze added.

The latest development comes after WSPA held encouraging talks with members of the newly elected Caymanian Government in late July, in which WSPA called for immediate steps to be taken, including:

1. Ending the CTF’s costly and potentially damaging wild release program;

2. Ending the handling of sea turtles by the public;

3. Obtaining a true understanding of the scale of local Caymanian demand for sea turtle meat;

4. Ending the sale of turtle meat to international tourists.

Ultimately, WSPA believes that the CTF should make a gradual transition away from the commercial production of green sea turtle meat and become a rehabilitation and release centre.