In addition to layoffs earlier this year that affected 21 employees, staff members at the Cayman Islands Turtle Farm/Boatswain’s Beach facility were required to take between a 5 per cent and 15 per cent pay cut.

The pay reduction took effect on 1 July for all remaining staff at the tourism and turtle breeding facility, affecting approximately 85 people. Prior to the staff cuts, Turtle Farm/Boatswain’s Beach officials said there were 108 people employed at the West Bay operation.

“We are aiming to...as much as possible, take decisive action to reduce the amount of deficit from operations and to cut down the equity injection we receive from government,’ the facility’s managing director, Tim Adam, said this week.

In prior years, the Turtle Farm/Boatswain’s Beach facility has received as much as $10 million per budget year in government subsidies as well as some loans to keep the struggling operation afloat. 

According to board meeting minutes obtained through an open records request, all staff earning less than $30,000 per year received a 5 per cent pay cut; staff making between $30,000 and $50,000 received a 10 per cent pay cut; and those earning more than $50,000 per year got a 15 per cent pay cut starting 1 July.

Mr. Adam said the Turtle Farm had attempted a number of other cost reduction or revenue enhancement measures over the past year, including raising the price of turtle meat. So far, the changes appear to be working, he said.

“A reduction in the number of crew members and pay has had the effect we anticipated,” Mr. Adam said.

Job cuts

Mr. Adam has previously said that deciding to cut jobs was an “agonising” process.

“But after initiating many cost-saving efficiencies, there was a need to further reduce costs,” he said earlier this year. “We had to look at our personnel costs.”

Mr. Adam said those who were laid off were given assistance in finding new employment, reference letters and support from the Turtle Farm, including counselling.

According to the Turtle Farm Board meeting minutes obtained through the open records request, the position of each individual affected during the layoff process was considered by members.

“This was necessary to ensure the continued viability of the operation, while taking into account the shareholder’s (government’s) resolve toward a continued reduction in its subsidy of our operation,” the minutes stated.

At one point in 2008, the Boatswain’s Beach facility was losing up to $500,000 per month on its operating costs. In recent years, those costs have been reduced, but the facility was still losing money each month through the end of the previous financial year - 30 June, 2010. 

Government has poured more than $20 million into the tourism attraction to make up its operating losses since 2004, not including loans it has made to the facility.

Turtle breeding

The Cayman Turtle Farm/Boatswain’s Beach facility is hoping better nutrition and a more prolific breeding stock will increase the number of sea turtles available for consumption as well as for release into the wild.

Mr. Adam said in June that prior to the start of this year’s turtle breeding season, farm staff weighed all turtles in the breeding pond, removed non-productive breeders and added a few new female turtles to the pond in hopes of increasing numbers.

He also noted that a dietary supplement was being fed to the turtles in the hopes of increasing the birth rate.

As of last month, Turtle Farm officials said it was too early to determine whether the measures have had any effect.

Turtle birth rates at the farm have decreased steadily over the years. Once there were 20,000 sea turtles at the facility, but that number has recently dwindled to 7,000.

Mr. Adam said the turtle farm staff also removed all first-generation turtles-- those captured in the wild – from the breeding pond.

This is a move aimed to convince international authorities that Cayman’s turtle stock is not being taken from the wild. Mr. Adam hopes that Cayman eventually could trade its turtle products, including meat and shells, abroad if the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species relaxes standards for Cayman on trading green sea turtle parts.