“Terrapin Town” – Beaufort, NC

[Todd Stockwell]

Todd Stockwell

November 20, 2001 at 10:06 pm #16297

Anyone know about the captive breeding program at the United States Fishery Biological Station at Beaufort, NC, circa 1942? I bought an October 1947 issue of “Nature” magazine on Ebay that has a nice article on the station. I am wondering if there were scientific papers/reports published detailing the successful breeding programs at the Station? The article begins with a mention of 500 DBTs being shipped to California to try to establish a west coast population for the food trade. I had heard jokes about this, but this is the first article I’ve come across confirming the shipment of stock. The article reports that the station had “reared more than 241,000 young terrapins since 1910 for experimental and breeding purposes, and for the restocking of depleted coastal areas from Chesapeake Bay to Louisiana.” The article credits the station with saving the terrapin from extinction. The article says 50,000 pounds of terrapin was still being caught annually circa 1942, mostly sold fresh with a small amount canned. “In 1923 first-class Carolina terrapins of six inches sold for $30 a dozen, with larger ones bringing more, in markets on the North Carolina coast. In 1926 it was reported that in Boston diamond-backs retailed at $1 per inch of the length of the lower shell. Thus, a six-inch terrapin would sell for $6, or a dozen would bring $72, or even more.” (Interesting that the food markets used plastron length rather than SCL. I guess that the plastron length was perhaps easier to measure with any type of ruler at the market than the SCL which is more accurately taken with a caliper or table device?) I am going to post a few excerpts detailing the breeding and propagation as I get time, but I am wondering how long this station stayed in the DBT business? Todd in Texas

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