Garrison Hilliard
2006-02-27 23:58:23 UTC
Turtle Trapping: Uncommon Practice, Uncertain Future
Bill McAuliffe - Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune
West Four-Legged Lake in Minnesota shimmered under a wide blue sky as Dean
Heidelberger shoved his canoe from shore. A loon, laughing nervously, was the
only other creature on the water. It was a brilliant July morning, but for
Heidelberger, it was the beginning of a bad day.
One of only a few dozen Minnesotans licensed to catch and sell turtles, he hoped
to harvest about 100 western painteds from 26 handmade traps he'd floated among
the cattails, lilies and rice. But he found only about two dozen, worth about
$40. He tossed back eight others as too big or too nicked up for the overseas
pet market. And one turtle nipped and bloodied his cheek.
"People think everybody makes a lot of money in this racket," said Heidelberger,
44. "But it's not true."
Even so, the Minnesota state legislature has stopped issuing new commercial
turtle licenses, out of concern that international demand might increase the
harvest of Minnesota's turtles, particularly the western painted.
That move already has reduced the number of licensed turtlers from an average of
about 100 annually to 41 this year and promises to make turtlers such as
Heidelberger the last of their kind. And many of them feel that follow-up
proposals by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to restrict existing
turtle harvesting will only hasten the end.
"A lot of guys have done this for three generations," said Rex Campbell, who for
many years has been regarded as the state's most active turtler. "They're not
going to abuse the resource. Then their kids won't have anything to do. That's
the last thing we want to do."
The turtle industry is truly one of Minnesota's backwater businesses. Of those
with licenses, there appear to be less than two dozen active turtlers, most of
whom learned it from their fathers or grandfathers. They're allowed to trap
three of Minnesota's nine turtle species - snapping, painted and spiny
softshells - and they work mostly central and north-central Minnesota lakes and
the Mississippi River in southeastern Minnesota. Like Heidelberger, most combine
turtling with minnow-catching, commercial fishing or leech-trapping, and maybe
some fur trapping in the winter.
"My dad raised eight kids on it," said Ben Hedstrom, the state's primary turtle
wholesaler. "One thing about it: It's in your blood. My family's been doing it
since 1925."
Campbell has been trapping turtles since he was a teenager in the 1960s, and in
recent years has earned between $5,000 and $10,000, selling them, mostly to
Hedstrom. In 1998, he said, he made $30,000 on 20,000 turtles, his best year
ever.
That year turtlers reported putting nearly 69,000 painted turtles on the market
- a number both Campbell and DNR officials believe is understated. Only about
4,500 snapping turtles, which grow much larger than the painted turtles, are
trapped and sold each year, virtually all for their meat. Far fewer spiny
softshells, also sold for meat, are trapped.
But no one knows how many turtles there are in Minnesota.
Heidelberger and Campbell say that most turtlers toss back any painted turtle
more than 5 1/2 inches long, which is likely a breeding female and too big for
the pet market. That practice is designed to help stabilize or even increase the
turtle population, they say.
In addition to the no-new-licenses plan, the DNR has increased the annual
license fee from $70 to $250. It also wants to reduce the number of
painted-turtle traps allowed per trapper to 40 (it's now unlimited), require
trappers to empty traps every two days and require them to report which lakes
they're harvesting.
Trappers say the trap limit is both too low and unnecessary. Emptying traps
every two days will hurt, they say, because turtles attract other turtles.
Heidelberger has about 65 traps out and said he'd like to run 100, but that many
would require too much work. So trappers effectively set their own limits, he
said.
He also argued that the current handful of licensed trappers, working
Minnesota's plentiful lakes and rivers, could never deplete the number of
painted turtles, North America's most populous turtle.
Campbell has butted heads over the years with the DNR over his turtle trapping,
and he won one case in court. But he has pulled back from trapping, he said,
both to concentrate on his bait business and because he's a little battle-weary.
"We just want to be able to make a living," he said.
http://www.wkrc.com/guides/parenting/story.aspx?content_id=7C4BBDF3-8569-4EE9-BC59-B587ADBA079E
Bill McAuliffe - Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune
West Four-Legged Lake in Minnesota shimmered under a wide blue sky as Dean
Heidelberger shoved his canoe from shore. A loon, laughing nervously, was the
only other creature on the water. It was a brilliant July morning, but for
Heidelberger, it was the beginning of a bad day.
One of only a few dozen Minnesotans licensed to catch and sell turtles, he hoped
to harvest about 100 western painteds from 26 handmade traps he'd floated among
the cattails, lilies and rice. But he found only about two dozen, worth about
$40. He tossed back eight others as too big or too nicked up for the overseas
pet market. And one turtle nipped and bloodied his cheek.
"People think everybody makes a lot of money in this racket," said Heidelberger,
44. "But it's not true."
Even so, the Minnesota state legislature has stopped issuing new commercial
turtle licenses, out of concern that international demand might increase the
harvest of Minnesota's turtles, particularly the western painted.
That move already has reduced the number of licensed turtlers from an average of
about 100 annually to 41 this year and promises to make turtlers such as
Heidelberger the last of their kind. And many of them feel that follow-up
proposals by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to restrict existing
turtle harvesting will only hasten the end.
"A lot of guys have done this for three generations," said Rex Campbell, who for
many years has been regarded as the state's most active turtler. "They're not
going to abuse the resource. Then their kids won't have anything to do. That's
the last thing we want to do."
The turtle industry is truly one of Minnesota's backwater businesses. Of those
with licenses, there appear to be less than two dozen active turtlers, most of
whom learned it from their fathers or grandfathers. They're allowed to trap
three of Minnesota's nine turtle species - snapping, painted and spiny
softshells - and they work mostly central and north-central Minnesota lakes and
the Mississippi River in southeastern Minnesota. Like Heidelberger, most combine
turtling with minnow-catching, commercial fishing or leech-trapping, and maybe
some fur trapping in the winter.
"My dad raised eight kids on it," said Ben Hedstrom, the state's primary turtle
wholesaler. "One thing about it: It's in your blood. My family's been doing it
since 1925."
Campbell has been trapping turtles since he was a teenager in the 1960s, and in
recent years has earned between $5,000 and $10,000, selling them, mostly to
Hedstrom. In 1998, he said, he made $30,000 on 20,000 turtles, his best year
ever.
That year turtlers reported putting nearly 69,000 painted turtles on the market
- a number both Campbell and DNR officials believe is understated. Only about
4,500 snapping turtles, which grow much larger than the painted turtles, are
trapped and sold each year, virtually all for their meat. Far fewer spiny
softshells, also sold for meat, are trapped.
But no one knows how many turtles there are in Minnesota.
Heidelberger and Campbell say that most turtlers toss back any painted turtle
more than 5 1/2 inches long, which is likely a breeding female and too big for
the pet market. That practice is designed to help stabilize or even increase the
turtle population, they say.
In addition to the no-new-licenses plan, the DNR has increased the annual
license fee from $70 to $250. It also wants to reduce the number of
painted-turtle traps allowed per trapper to 40 (it's now unlimited), require
trappers to empty traps every two days and require them to report which lakes
they're harvesting.
Trappers say the trap limit is both too low and unnecessary. Emptying traps
every two days will hurt, they say, because turtles attract other turtles.
Heidelberger has about 65 traps out and said he'd like to run 100, but that many
would require too much work. So trappers effectively set their own limits, he
said.
He also argued that the current handful of licensed trappers, working
Minnesota's plentiful lakes and rivers, could never deplete the number of
painted turtles, North America's most populous turtle.
Campbell has butted heads over the years with the DNR over his turtle trapping,
and he won one case in court. But he has pulled back from trapping, he said,
both to concentrate on his bait business and because he's a little battle-weary.
"We just want to be able to make a living," he said.
http://www.wkrc.com/guides/parenting/story.aspx?content_id=7C4BBDF3-8569-4EE9-BC59-B587ADBA079E