prolapsed cloacoe, capture stress, commercial harvest practices

more ramblings…too late/too tired to edit …… As for the prolapsed cloaca, I was referring to observations reported to me by USGS terrapin study personnel. I don_t know much about the Pax River findings. Is there a report I could read? I_m not sure if the USGS is published, but I believe their observations were only in females, only in summer, and thought to be related to nesting and capture stress, not sure. However, I would be interested in any further details on the prolapsed cloacae condition. Since USGS scraped for terrapins in winter, maybe they have separate data on those captures. Let me narrow in and restate the quandary: Has anyone observed the condition in males? And if so, how many, what time of year, under what conditions? Other than stress, is there any specific cause or other conclusion? If terrapins are stressed by improper handling/shipping, dehydration, starvation, etc., then surely the commercial harvest was a stressful cause. For discussion purposes harvest or capture could be considered a physical stress, distinguished from a chemical oil spill stress. Not sure Clearly, the prolapsed cloacae witnessed in our observation, in both males and females, were related to stress, but what kind? I_m still wondering about temperature change, brumation disruption, pressure differential and how these would cause the condition. I_ve been told that water pressures may not be a factor in prolapsed cloacae since terrapin are believed to brumate in depths less than one atmosphere, not sure. I had not thought about the oil spill as a cause, I suppose it could happen, but why? The spill occurred early April 2000, well past brumation. Terrapin were observed upstream of the spill a week after and only two were in the rehab center at that point. Would the incidence of increased prolapsed in Willem_s wild caught cohort (post-oil spill, 2000 and 2001) be considered a chemical stress. If we had more certainty of the extent of commercial harvest or by-catch in other fishing gear at the time, the Pax River observations could be associated with physical stress. The oil spill may be coincident with market demand and increased fishing pressure, but there are no data. Maybe there was an increase in the use of fyke nets during the winter prior to Willem_s observations. The incidental capture and subsequent rough handling when dumped out by the harvesters for culling may have caused an increase of prolapsed cloacae in the study population. According to the Pax River data I_ve seen, the population seems to increase slightly right after the 2000 oil spill. I later thought that the slight increase in terrapin numbers in 2001 may have been a result of fewer fyke nets in use immediately after the oil spill. I_m assuming there were fewer nets set because the watermen filed a claim against the oil company for loss of fishing opportunity, stock, and gear and were subsequently compensated. Millions were paid out in monetary damages and to my knowledge there were no terrapin restoration efforts. Our head start proposal was shot down. The final oil spill assessment cited 122 dead terrapins and included calculations, projected residual damages, and a compensation plan. The final analysis seemed to focus more on damage to terrapin nest habitat and future generations, not existing adult population. If the incidence of prolapsed stopped in two years and the population resumed its decline, maybe something else was going on, like drowning in fyke nets, retained in gear too long, or direct harvest. We know that for several weeks in 03 about 300 terrapin sat in a pound net until the residents finally took matters into their own hands and released them. Since there were no proper handling/humane shipping protocols required or prescribed, the terrapin fishery at least in MD was left to devise its own standards/practices. From 2002 on, the commercial practices observed included 18-20 terrapins to a bushel box, wholesale storage at 40F, shipped in the same box, and offered at retail markets in NY and beyond in various containers or stages of stress. From 1998 __ 2001, we observed terrapins shipped like crabs in a bushel basket. We still don’t have a consensus of how most terrapins were harvested. Just to clarify, most animals in our cohort were purchased at wholesale, harvested within a week prior to us unpacking them, and assumed to be from the lower shore areas. They may have been harvested along with other species, i.e. oyster dredge, fyke nets, crab pots, pound nets, etc., but were not stored with other species. Watermen claimed it was by-catch harvest (as if there’s a difference), but once they sold them, they became harvested. After 2002, our data came from the wholesale buyer, not the harvesters, and we always required a bill of sale. Those purchased during winter months appeared to be in __better__ condition than those purchased during the warm months, i.e. brumation is a stress reducer. Retail buyers expect about 25% to be DOA. The prolapsed cloacae were observed mainly in the winter cohort in both males and females. We have confirmation that our tagged terrapins were recovered in Albany , so against all odds, at least some resumed life for a year, only to be harvested again. I.m thinking that both USGS_s and Willem_s observations were in their summer captures and in females only __ not sure.