Fw: terrapins regulation article
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State seeks tougher rules on harvesting terrapins
By PAMELA WOOD, Staff Writer The state yesterday proposed new rules to rein in the harvest of diamondback terrapins, and the plans already are meeting with sharp criticism. The rules would change the size of terrapins allowed to be harvested, shorten the season and improve reporting requirements for watermen. There currently are few harvest restrictions, and little data on the terrapin population.Department of Natural Resources officials said the regulations will lead to fewer of the large, mature females being caught, and will allow the agency to get a better handle on how many terrapins are being harvested.Specifically, the proposed rules include:Changing the allowable size from a minimum of 6 inches to a range of 4 to 7 inches.Shorten the season from nine months (Aug. 1 to April 30) to three months (Aug. 1 to Oct. 31).Require a special mandatory permit for watermen targeting terrapins.Gina Hunt, assistant director of the DNR’s Fisheries Service, said the harvest of mature females and incomplete reporting have been problems.”The reporting is not that great,” she acknowledged.Though scores of watermen have licenses that allow for terrapin harvesting, the DNR estimates that fewer than two dozen watermen target the reptile.The regulations are being proposed as both emergency and permanent measures. The emergency regulations will allow the rules to be in place before the next terrapin harvest starts.DNR officials will take their proposals to a joint Senate-House of Delegates committee for approval. And on July 10 the DNR will hold a public hearing on the proposals.Marguerite Whilden, for one, is not thrilled.A former DNR employee, nicknamed the “Terrapin Lady,” Ms. Whilden now leads the Terrapin Institute. A nonprofit organization in Shady Side, it’s dedicated to terrapin conservation and education. Much of the group’s focus is on buying live terrapins at fish markets and returning them to the Chesapeake Bay.Ms. Whilden said the DNR is ignoring the recently passed law that’s leading to the regulations. A law passed in this year’s General Assembly session requires the DNR to create a terrapin management plan that’s consistent with a 2001 task force that examined terrapin issues.That task force recommended a temporary harvest moratorium so the species could be studied more thoroughly.She said the proposal is “poorly thought out” and “does not meet the letter of the law.”The DNR says, however, that the regulations are in accordance with the new law and the task force report.”A commercial harvest is not good for the species when you don’t know the entire universe or how many are being taken,” said Ms. Whilden, whose group has offered to buy out the few watermen who harvest terrapins.Larry Simns, longtime president of the Maryland Watermen’s Association, isn’t pleased either.He said the DNR is targeting watermen while ignoring other problems facing terrapins, such as shoreline spawning grounds being lost to development and terrapins drowning in recreational crab pots.While few watermen target terrapins, many catch the reptiles while fishing for other species and sell them as well.”It’s just another thing they’re taking away from the watermen,” Mr. Simns said. “It’s a feel-good to fool the public that they’re protecting the resource.” Next Top StoryTop Stories PageSubscribe to The Capital Published June 21, 2006, The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
Marguerite WhildenThe Terrapin InstituteP. O. Box 51Edgewater, MD 21037Voice 410 370 9171FAX 410 757 9268www.terrapininstitute.org “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change.”— In diamondbackterrapins@yahoogroups.com, “Marguerite Whilden”
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