DIF&W hearing elicits opposition to snapping turtle trapping season

AUGUSTA – The squirming 35-year-old turtle that was theatrically plunked down on the table in front of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Commissioner Lee Perry on Monday evening might be the most unusual item ever entered into evidence during a wildlife policy debate.

About 20 members of the public attended a Monday evening public hearing on the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s plan to allow a limited commercial turtle harvest.

None spoke in favor of the turtle season, and most applauded turtle researcher Susanne Kynasd’s stunt with the snapper.

The department has been charged with managing the commercial turtle harvest to ensure the population’s sustainability, Mark Stadler, DIF&W wildlife director, said. Based on the limited data about snapping turtles that is available, biologists have proposed limiting the turtle season to four months, as well as setting a minimum harvest size of a 13-inch shell length.

The state believes that the proposed regulations will be a first step toward protecting the turtles, as well as a means of getting information about the harvest, he said.

Nearly a dozen people responded to Stadler, each testifying that the proposed rule would not do enough to protect the snapping turtle population if out-of-state trappers began visiting Maine ponds.

David Mork of Richmond shared his experience as a one-time turtle trapper in Michigan. In that state, trappers from other states began taking thousands of turtles, necessitating stricter regulations. Mork has not trapped in the two decades since he moved to Maine, and today, incubates abandoned turtle eggs and releases hatchlings into the wild to boost the turtle population.

“I don’t see why we haven’t learned from sea urchins or groundfish. Once they become a decimated species, we spend millions of dollars trying to get them back,” Paul Clifford, an eighth-grade teacher from Portland, said. “We have the knowledge to protect [turtles] beforehand, and we’re not doing it. To me, that’s frightening.”

Others, including representatives from Maine Audubon and the Maine Herpetological Society, said that published studies of snapping turtle populations suggest that turtles are not an appropriate game species, and trapping must be shut down altogether in Maine.

“The research is there, why are you ignoring it?” Jean Adamson, a Maine Audubon volunteer from Hampden said, submitting a petition against the snapper season.

“This looks like a political decision.”

Despite making his living off the state’s natural resources, Tom Bergh, a registered Maine Guide from Peaks Island, offered his support to a complete moratorium on turtle trapping until better data about the Maine population is available.

“To have a license is not a right, it’s a privilege,” Bergh said.

Biologists must choose between the political pressure from trappers and the available scientific data, trapping opponents said.

“There are times when you can’t compromise, and I think this is one of those times,” said Robert Oakley of Belfast. “You’re going to have to make some people unhappy so there’s something left of the turtle population. That’s your job.”

A hearing on the proposed fall archery season for wild turkey also was held in Augusta on Monday night. Hank Holden of Liberty made the evening’s only comments, lobbying for the creation of a fall shotgun turkey season, to be held just before Thanksgiving. The archery proposal alone would have a limited impact on nuisance turkey population, he said. Holden presented policy-makers with a petition of 290 people who patronize his sporting goods shop and support an expanded fall turkey hunt.

Written comments on either proposal may be submitted to DIF&W through May 23. Comments should be sent to Andrea Erskine, Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, #41 SHS, Augusta 04333-0041. For information, call the department at 287-5201.

Misty Edgecomb is the outdoor reporter for the Bangor Daily News. She can be reached at medgecomb@bangordailynews.net.