The shells of turtles at the Boatswain’s Beach Turtle Farm could be-come a hot commodity and money maker for the venture.

Tammie C. Chisholm

The Cayman Turtle Farm may soon be selling more than turtle meat.

“Right now, only 42 per cent of the turtle by weight is being sold,” said Managing Director Tim Adam.

The back shells are simply discarded, while the skin and fat are mixed into stew and menavelin.

 “As a farm, we want to use as much of the animals we spend so much effort nurturing and raising as possible, it is such a shame we are throwing away so much of them,” he said.

  He has high hopes for turtle skin, which produces distinctive leather similar to alligator, while the animals’ fat when processed can be made into high-value oil suitable for cosmetics or medical use.

“It just seems wasteful to be using these products for stew,” he said.

Mr. Adam said there are two ways to sell the shell, also known as the calapash or the carapace: either in pieces or whole as a decorative item.

 He noted Chief Scientific Officer Joe Parsons is qualified to cure turtle shells using a formaldehyde process.

“We are not ready to do it quite yet,” he said.

“The equipment needs to be assembled to cure them, as we definitely don’t want to sell low-quality shells that have not been properly treated.”

He said he envisions selling cured shells to crafts people for about $100, who could then polish and resell them as decorative items, with the final product retailing from $500 to $1,000, depending on the size. The shells would be tagged to identify them as originating from the Turtle Farm.

“The nice thing about farmed sea turtle shells is that they are much prettier than the shells from wild turtles,” said Mr. Adam.

“They have beautiful colours and are in much better condition.”

Hurdles

Mr. Adam says that for now, the focus will have to be on the local market only.

Because marine turtles are endangered, commercial trade in all turtle products is prohibited under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which regulates the international trade in endangered species.

The Department of Environment website notes this prohibition also applies to products derived from the captive turtles at the Cayman Islands Turtle Farm and will not change until the Farm attains status as a CITES Registered Captive-breeding facility.

Until then, anyone caught by Cayman or overseas customs taking turtle products out of the Cayman Islands without the proper permits faces confiscation of the products, fines or imprisonment.

Provided the Turtle Farm is not trading internationally, complying with CITES will not be a factor in the plans for turtle shell sales.

However, Mr. Adam thinks the restrictions on international trade may one day be overcome, at least somewhat.

“Considering Cayman is a British territory, it’s possible that trade between the UK and its territories may not be considered international,” said Mr. Adam.

“The UK is keen to see Cayman develop sustainable economic activities, and with a little help from the relevant UK authorities, we might be able establish trade in a way that does not violate international agreements.”

More ideas

Mr. Adam also hopes to make use of unhatched turtle eggs, which are discarded.

 “Every year we end up having thousands of eggs that will never hatch, which we can determine within days of them being laid,” he said.

The plan is to sell the cooked eggs at Schooner’s restaurant.

Mr. Adam thinks the oil, the leather and the shell products would likely yield much more commercial value than the meat, especially if the market opens up.

“I see no good reason why consumers in the UK for example could not be enjoying our oil and leather,” he said.

“This would give our Islands a product for export and help the economy.”

The shells of turtles at the Boatswain’s Beach Turtle Farm could become a hot commodity and money maker for the venture. Photo: Tammie C. Chisholm