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Re: End Sea Turtle Hunting Season in the BVI
[Re: NCSailor]
#42873
03/07/2015 06:48 PM
03/07/2015 06:48 PM
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,040 Charlotte, NC
NCSailor
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Posts: 2,040
Charlotte, NC
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NCSailor said: Sea turtle stew is yummy. Made by locals its a renewable resource. I said the same thing sorta but got shot down by someone with a better moral compass than me.
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Re: End Sea Turtle Hunting Season in the BVI
[Re: wmangum]
#42874
03/07/2015 07:17 PM
03/07/2015 07:17 PM
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,390 Ill, USA
Will_L
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Ill, USA
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Well said Mangum. I thought, I hope the people, mostly in the US are bright enough to keep their opinions about turtles to online polls and not share their zealotry with belongers who have been harvesting turtles their entire lives. While thinking "we are the enlightened" sharing our vast knowledge of the universe with the great unwashed...it makes those indigenous to the islands who have welcomed you as a guest view you as at least tone deaf if not brain dead.
It is not all that different than some coastal elitists coming to my neck of the woods and trying to enlighten the hunters of deer, Turkey or migratory waterfowl to cease and desist. They would likely smile a bit after your speel and nod and if you are lucky say "that's nice"...,instead of BS punk where do you get off coming to my country and telling me what to eat?
Like quail in our area, far more turtles in the bvi likely succumb to natural causes than becoming turtle soup.
How about this? Out of concern for turtles, the bvi pass an ordinance that says no anchoring in the territory. See what those anchors do to the sea grass? A turtles lunchbox? Maybe decrease the number of charter boats by half and double the price with some proceeds going to turtle restoration?
gumption is making his living off off tourists wanting to see Turtles, and because Branson is his benefactor. He certaintly is not a policy spokesman for the BVI citizens anymore than code pink speaks for all US citizens.
Do I and most other visitors want to see the wildlife harmed ? Nope, but I am bright enough to keep my mouth shut when in someone else's country dealing with their heritage.
I don't think anyone is not going to vacation in the BVI if they don't listen to a bunch of tourists about their turtle season. Btw if ever had turtle soup at Brennan's in NO, it doesn't taste like chicken... <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />
I would much rather they make poisoning dogs a crime and eat a few turtles..so do our two pups. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />
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Re: End Sea Turtle Hunting Season in the BVI
[Re: wmangum]
#42880
03/08/2015 10:20 AM
03/08/2015 10:20 AM
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 1,176 Rincón PR
casailor53
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Rincón PR
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wmangum said: Wouldn't it be nice if people did not come down here, fall in love with the place, and then start trying to push their own agenda.
Turtles have been a food source here for hundreds of years. Turtles are not exported. They are simply a food source for local people.
Maybe some BVIslanders should come to your country and tell you how to manage it.
Over and out. I agree with everything stated (actually "Over and out" is not correct). Culture is culture and I think that it should be respected up to a certain line. For example, what I have recently read about rape in India is abhorrent. But the BVI tradition of taking turtles for food, the number that are realistically taken and the fact that none are exported makes this a no-brainer.
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Re: End Sea Turtle Hunting Season in the BVI
[Re: TackingAg]
#42883
03/08/2015 01:39 PM
03/08/2015 01:39 PM
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 1,176 Rincón PR
casailor53
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Posts: 1,176
Rincón PR
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TackingAg said: I simply wanted to bring awareness to a Belonger who is trying to make change within his own culture. How do you know that Karl Pytlik is a belonger?
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Re: End Sea Turtle Hunting Season in the BVI
[Re: mdoyle9999]
#42885
03/08/2015 02:43 PM
03/08/2015 02:43 PM
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 1,148 road town
sleepychef
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road town
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mdoyle9999 said: It is a native of Virgin Gorda, Gumption, who is leading this effort. and Gumption who's picture got a local on Anegada fined for bringing in a 10/11ft Hammerhead e missed the 11ft Black Tip that was also taken out the mooring field at Anegada, these large predators are becoming regular visitors to this area and the reason....TURTLES they come because there is a large population and sharks find them tasty.
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Re: End Sea Turtle Hunting Season in the BVI
#42888
03/08/2015 04:31 PM
03/08/2015 04:31 PM
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 3,003
sail445
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They're not even close to becoming extinct there isn't any proof whatsoever except hear say. Like Dr Gray predicting hurricanes... He's been wrong for 20 years. It's the same for global warming. Example Freon,they taxed it where it cost $300 for a 30 lb tank yet you could purchase it in St Martin or anywhere in the world for $40.00. The lobbyist which are the Congress payed themselves off.
Last edited by sail445; 03/08/2015 04:59 PM.
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Re: End Sea Turtle Hunting Season in the BVI
[Re: Manpot]
#42889
03/08/2015 05:20 PM
03/08/2015 05:20 PM
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 1,148 road town
sleepychef
Traveler
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Manpot said: So...if they become extinct everyone misses out..locals who eat them..guides who show them to the $$ guests and all snorkelers and divers..even the sharks have to look elsewhere for a snack ( watch your back those in the water). Is that not reason enough to show a little common sense and protect them if they are nearing extinction..just saying! Your point is well taken but misses the agenda of the petition. To end the hunting season in the BVI, nobody commercially fishes for Turtle in the BVI, there are very few commercial fisherman except the Lobster & Pot fishermen and on another post was to stop Pot fishing so the Groupers can help with Lionfish( which came from the USA) flushed away but now breeding in the BVI. Stop any commercial fishing for Turtle worldwide I would sign in a heartbeat but to tell locals around the world and here in the BVI that they can't catch what they have always caught because someone in a First world country messed up their enviroment so badly they now want to halt progress in the islands because they want to keep them special for vacation time. Who decides the cute scale? The media/internet controls the world as no one cares about Cows, Pigs, Chicken, Wahoo, Mahi, LOBSTERS, Conch but a cute little turtle and everyone is up in arms.
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Re: End Sea Turtle Hunting Season in the BVI
[Re: sail445]
#42891
03/08/2015 10:32 PM
03/08/2015 10:32 PM
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 137 Newport Beach, California
Kona1
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It's hard to fight such overwhelming proof of "Hear-Say" as presented in argument by Sail 445. However, there are some Caribbean countries ( Barbados, Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico) that seem to think getting involved with a little known activity called "science" and making decisions based on the pesky argument of "facts" as opposed to "it's gone on for centuries", with the end result being a ban on harvesting of the Hawksbill and other "sustainable" food sources known as sea turtles. Perhaps reading the study results may be interesting to those that appreciate knowledge as a source for drawing an opinion. If you simply google it, the studies drawing the same conclusion, world wide, are endless. http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/turtles/hawksbill.htmhttp://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/species/hawksbillseaturtle2013_5yearreview.pdfhttp://www.barbados.org/species/project.htmhttp://www.jbhp.org/vision/
Cheers!
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Re: End Sea Turtle Hunting Season in the BVI
[Re: sleepychef]
#42892
03/09/2015 03:10 AM
03/09/2015 03:10 AM
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,040 Charlotte, NC
NCSailor
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sleepychef said:Manpot said: So...if they become extinct everyone misses out..locals who eat them..guides who show them to the $$ guests and all snorkelers and divers..even the sharks have to look elsewhere for a snack ( watch your back those in the water). Is that not reason enough to show a little common sense and protect them if they are nearing extinction..just saying! Your point is well taken but misses the agenda of the petition. To end the hunting season in the BVI, nobody commercially fishes for Turtle in the BVI, there are very few commercial fisherman except the Lobster & Pot fishermen and on another post was to stop Pot fishing so the Groupers can help with Lionfish( which came from the USA) flushed away but now breeding in the BVI. Stop any commercial fishing for Turtle worldwide I would sign in a heartbeat but to tell locals around the world and here in the BVI that they can't catch what they have always caught because someone in a First world country messed up their enviroment so badly they now want to halt progress in the islands because they want to keep them special for vacation time. Who decides the cute scale? The media/internet controls the world as no one cares about Cows, Pigs, Chicken, Wahoo, Mahi, LOBSTERS, Conch but a cute little turtle and everyone is up in arms. Lionfish didn't come from the US. They came from the Indian Ocean. If you would teach the turtles to eat the lionfish all of your problems would be solved.
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Re: End Sea Turtle Hunting Season in the BVI
[Re: warren460]
#42893
03/09/2015 10:34 AM
03/09/2015 10:34 AM
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 1,176 Rincón PR
casailor53
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Posts: 1,176
Rincón PR
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warren460 said: But gumption is Gumption does good things. But my point was that Gumption did not originate the petition; in fact, he was the 4602nd to sign it, and then promoted it. And in going back to find that he was 4602, there were few signers from Tortola, and the vast majority of them (who left more than their first names) were white ex-pats, not belongers.
Last edited by casailor53; 03/09/2015 10:38 AM.
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Re: End Sea Turtle Hunting Season in the BVI
[Re: Ernst]
#42895
03/09/2015 11:26 AM
03/09/2015 11:26 AM
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 1,176 Rincón PR
casailor53
Traveler
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Posts: 1,176
Rincón PR
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Ernst said: Excuse me, what does the skin color of the signers have to do with anything? Culture.
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Re: End Sea Turtle Hunting Season in the BVI
[Re: TackingAg]
#42898
03/09/2015 03:06 PM
03/09/2015 03:06 PM
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 30 Anegada, BVI
DannyV
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Posts: 30
Anegada, BVI
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This petition took years to even get close to its quota. I'm guessing that now that it's so well known, what would be the outcome if there was a petition in support of keeping the current season on turtles? I'm guessing it wouldn't take 1/2 as long to get 5000 signatures in full support of keeping it as is. The turtle population here in the BVI has actually grown over these years,.....especially right here in Anegada, so if it's not broken or on its way to breaking, why fix it? Cause I see more and more turtles every year here and that's an actual fact.
Last edited by DannyV; 03/09/2015 03:08 PM.
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Re: End Sea Turtle Hunting Season in the BVI
[Re: DannyV]
#42899
03/09/2015 03:35 PM
03/09/2015 03:35 PM
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 3,003
sail445
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DannyV said: This petition took years to even get close to its quota. I'm guessing that now that it's so well known, what would be the outcome if there was a petition in support of keeping the current season on turtles? I'm guessing it wouldn't take 1/2 as long to get 5000 signatures in full support of keeping it as is. The turtle population here in the BVI has actually grown over these years,.....especially right here in Anegada, so if it's not broken or on its way to breaking, why fix it? Cause I see more and more turtles every year here and that's an actual fact. I'm in complete agreement. Not one organization can prove they were endangered, there is no way to count them. Personally I wouldn't eat a turtle although I've been to places that serve them.
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Re: End Sea Turtle Hunting Season in the BVI
[Re: sail445]
#42900
03/09/2015 04:05 PM
03/09/2015 04:05 PM
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,040 Charlotte, NC
NCSailor
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Charlotte, NC
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sail445 said:DannyV said: This petition took years to even get close to its quota. I'm guessing that now that it's so well known, what would be the outcome if there was a petition in support of keeping the current season on turtles? I'm guessing it wouldn't take 1/2 as long to get 5000 signatures in full support of keeping it as is. The turtle population here in the BVI has actually grown over these years,.....especially right here in Anegada, so if it's not broken or on its way to breaking, why fix it? Cause I see more and more turtles every year here and that's an actual fact. I'm in complete agreement. Not one organization can prove they were endangered, there is no way to count them. Personally I wouldn't eat a turtle although I've been to places that serve them. Let's not confuse the issue with actual facts.
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Re: End Sea Turtle Hunting Season in the BVI
[Re: NCSailor]
#42902
03/09/2015 06:32 PM
03/09/2015 06:32 PM
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 137 Newport Beach, California
Kona1
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No offense there NCSailor, I certainly don't want to question the validity of Danny's eye test on the local turtle population, but it seems that the surrounding Caribbean countries, with a university system in place, have conducted their own studies and they respectfully disagree (as evident by the sea turtle harvesting ban put in place by local governments).
With that being said, and I'm sure Danny must know this, on Anegada the Horseshoe Reef Protection Act was established waaaay back in the early 1990's, in cooperation with the BVI government, to help the local sea turtle population rebound. It's great to hear that it's had an impact.
Respectfully, the Belonger/Non Belonger argument, the attempt to make this about infringement on the rights of local culture, simply doesn't hold water when the nations around you have found their turtle populations to be Critically Endangered and have enacted harvesting bans to try and reverse the trends....done so based on DECADES of scientific study.
It's all about educating and working together so you can protect your local resources, so your childrens children can taste Hawksbill stew, so that my children can visit and taste Hawksbill Stew. But in a cooperative study, involving Australia to Egypt, all the way to Barbados these folks with PHD's have found that, at the rate of current consumption and habitat destruction, we can expect the Hawksbill and the Green Turtle to be extinct in 30-40 years.
There's going to be opposition, just like there was in places like The Caymans, Cuba, the USVI, Barbados etc. That's to be expected. Change always has opposition.
I'm not an activist. I grew up in Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest. I hunt and I fish. My father used to tell me that there was no proof to the stories of dwindling salmon populations...and I believed him, until they were gone from the local streams and rivers.
My first visit to the BVI's was in 1993 and I remember seeing hundreds of sea turtles on our short boat ride from Beef Island to Marina Cay. This past September I took my children on a two week vacation, their first BVI trip, they got to see one in the same waters. One. Maybe it was just bad timing? Maybe the migration routes have changed? Maybe Sail445 and Danny, along with a few others on this post are correct and the world wide sea turtle population is just fine. Which means all those folks who spent 12 years in school to get doctorates, then chose to use those expensive credentials to make very little money by participating in the study of sea turtles across the world, are simply trying to push an agenda that is false and self serving.
I'm not sure who to believe now? The guy who says there is no proof the species is endangered, or the hundreds of studies and subsequent numbers and corresponding information provided as rebuttal to that sentiment?
It was a tough decision but I'm going with option two...science wins. Science says these creatures are "Critically Endangered", not because they are cute (as one post eluded to) but because the numbers are critically low and the creature is in jeopardy of being extinct within my children's lifetime.
Cheers!
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Re: End Sea Turtle Hunting Season in the BVI
[Re: sail445]
#42905
03/09/2015 08:18 PM
03/09/2015 08:18 PM
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 137 Newport Beach, California
Kona1
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Sail445 - I put a 92 page study link available for you to read, not from National Geographic, but from the University of West Indie/Barbados government. You should read more and talk less.
Danny- great question. From what I've been able to find, a recent USVI study was completed in 2013, Puerto Rico is on going, most recent numbers as of 2012, that I've found. But, I have found nothing specific to BVI waters completed recently. It would be great if this debate could result in the BVI participating in a study locally again, as was done in the 90's.
It's ironic, but on my first visit to the BVI's I bought a book of poetry written by local students of Issabella Morris School (I think that was the name). The main topic was conservation, specifically sea turtles. A young girl named Akesha Smith, I think she was 8-9 years old, wrote a great poem about conserving the sea turtles environment. Considering her age, I was very impressed.
Anyway- it was obvious to me at that time communication and understanding on environmental studies was being addressed in the BVI's educational system. Hopefully that's still the case.
It's a beautiful place! The people are friendly and hospitable and I as a visitor certainly don't want to change the culture. Saving a species from extinction should be all of our responsibility, transcending culture, race, geography etc.
Last edited by Kona1; 03/09/2015 08:23 PM.
Cheers!
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Re: End Sea Turtle Hunting Season in the BVI
[Re: Kona1]
#42906
03/09/2015 10:12 PM
03/09/2015 10:12 PM
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Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 1,450 Napa, California
Teammac
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After reading through this thread again I must say that whether or not the turtles are endangered should be a non-issue. If one feels they should not be taken for food that is that person's right. Having said that, simply signing a petition to stop an activity is a poor excuse for proactivity and just makes a person feel better about themselves, like they have actually done something to help. If one feels strongly enough about this issue, then get involved, contact the leaders in charge of this movement and actually do something. Adding your name to a list? Easy. Working for the cause? Hard Work. Lets hear from those who feel strongly enough about this issue to take the hard road, volunteer their time and money, and make something happen.
It's not what you've got, it's what you give, it's not the life you choose, it's the life you live.
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Re: End Sea Turtle Hunting Season in the BVI
[Re: sail445]
#42910
03/10/2015 06:56 AM
03/10/2015 06:56 AM
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Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 10,999 Macon, Georgia
GlennA
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I believe we have about burned out this subject
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. - Mark Twain
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