Save sea turtles from soggy socialism!

Rex Curry

As an attorney, I am asked if there is a legal way to eat sea turtles. I know of no way, and the government will jail someone for a felony for merely handling a sea turtle.

If you are a U.S. citizen, then you can eat sea turtles if you leave the U.S. to visit countries that are more libertarian about turtles (Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Cuba, etc.).

Grand Cayman Island has a famous turtle farm selling meat (for popular dishes in restaurants) and shells. The farm brings turtles closer to everyone’s heart (inside the stomach).

The U.S. government imposed socialistic laws that almost destroyed the farm. Bureaucrats are more cold-blooded than turtles.

If you are from the U.S., then your government will confiscate your turtle property when you return, and that is the least that your U.S. Customs will do to you.

The U.S. wasn't always a socialist police state. The U.S. led in liberty, property rights, farming, and free markets. U.S. laws might change, but don't bet the farm on it.

If sea turtles were farmed like other animals, seafood, fruits and vegetables, then they wouldn’t be endangered. “I love sea turtles," a bumper sticker says "They taste just like chicken.”

Liberty helps turtles and the people who love them (to eat). U.S. Socialism hurts sea turtles. The lack of property rights in turtles and in so many waterways prevents turtle aquaculture.

New car tags ( http://members.ij.net/rex/ecotags.html ) tout the libertarian solution.

Some turdles float on the surface.
Other turdles sink to the bottom.
But under socialism, everything is flushed down the toilet.

Foreign turtle farms are saving turtles from U.S. socialism. The capitalist Cayman farm releases tagged turtles that have been found in the socialized waters of the U.S., as well as Venezuela, Nicaragua, Panama, Mexico, Honduras and Cuba.

U.S. laws deprive citizens of economic and personal liberty as well as research, scientific knowledge, aquaculture expertise and marketing skills that the Caymans gain over us.

Cayman Turtle Farm started in 1968 as Mariculture Ltd., by a group of investors from Great Britain and the United States. The intention was to supply the market with a source of product that did not deplete the wild populations further. The turtles were on their way to extinction until the Turtle farm opened. Much work was done pioneering the domestication of turtles.

Then, the U.S. exported its lethal socialism internationally. Regulations prevented the sale of even the farmed turtle product in the U.S. and many other countries. Eventually, the U.S. government under the CITES convention (Convention on International Trade for Endangered Species) banned all turtle products through U.S. ports. The farm lost 80 percent of its market overnight. With 100,000 turtles to feed and care for and unable to sell products to U.S. citizens who were willing buyers, Mariculture Ltd. went bankrupt in 1975.

In 1975, the first turtles raised from eggs obtained from the wild had reproduced.

New owners tried but export restrictions continued and revenue could not maintain the 100,000 turtles on hand. After 8 years the new company gave up. The number of turtles was reduced and operating costs brought to the minimum with the intention of closing. The Cayman Islands Government then purchased the mini farm in 1983 and has since operated it as a private company, Cayman Turtle Farm (1983) Ltd. The U.S. government nearly destroyed a private enterprise and almost replaced it with rank socialism.

The farm started with Green Turtles but also uses its knowledge to raise other endangered turtles: loggerheads, Kemp’s ridley, and hawksbills (the source of the coveted “tortoiseshell” for ornaments and jewelry).

The farm is still hoping for a change in the regulations. There is a rising stockpile of turtle shell waiting for a commercial market. There may not be a market any longer due to the length of time that the U.S. government has imposed socialism. The U.S., through its acts, has also increased poaching of wild turtles worldwide.

Various options are being considered by the farm. At one end of the continuum is bulldozing the tanks and selling the land for real estate, or other commercial development that will have absolutely nothing to do with propagating animal or plant life.

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Rex Curry is published worldwide as a libertarian and a lawyer with a degree in journalism. http://RexCurry.net is the only site on the internet that collects and displays historic photographs of the original Pledge of Allegiance. Rex collects historic photos that show how socialism has harmed the U.S., and his hobby is also photography and graphic art, displayed on the website. His predecessors helped settle Key West back when Florida's government was virtually non-existent. The Curry Mansion (historic home of Florida's first capitalist millionaire) is still on the local tour.

Rexy@ij.net