A Food Source. Small Island States, indigenous communities and coastal dwelling fishermen, many of whom live on the edge of poverty, are perhaps the main users of Green Turtles.

Green Sea Turtles are not Threatened by Trade. Green Sea Turtles are distributed around the world, and the total global wild population is millions of individuals. They are abundant in some parts of their range and depleted in others due largely to excessive use for food. There is no significant international trade.

Research and Development. Many countries researched the captive production of sea turtles from the 1960s onward. Only one persevered and has now demonstrated success – the Cayman Islands. Their original proposal (COP5, 1985) was rejected because of opposition in principle to the "use" of sea turtles. Their efforts should now be judged on proven performance.

 …the delegation of the United States of America pointed out that the proposal should not be rejected on arguments of general principle and urged the Parties to consider it on its merits and not reject it on a technicality…(Proceedings of the Fifth Meeting of the Conference of Parties, Buenos Aires, 1985)

Profound Ramifications. This pioneering R&D effort has profound ramifications for sea turtle conservation and management around the world. The ability to maintain traditional uses of turtles for food and other products, in a totally sustainable way.

What are the Cayman Islands seeking? Recognition of their achievements. They want to register their captive breeding facility (COP12 Doc. 55.2) so they can trade in polished carapaces (shells), a byproduct of their farming operation. The request is modest, precautionary and easily regulated. The primary product of the farm is meat, which is and will continue to be consumed domestically, maintaining a long-established tradition.

There are no objective grounds for opposition. IWMC considers registration cannot be challenged on technical, moral, scientific, humanitarian or any other reasonable grounds. The Cayman Island Turtle Farm deserves registration, international recognition and encouragement for overcoming the technical challenges.

The CITES Secretariat urges support. The Secretariat considers the criteria of registration (Resolution Conf. 11.14) are well satisfied. The Secretariat advises the Parties to support registration of the Cayman Islands Turtle Farm as a commercial captive breeding facility.

Bio-Politics of Sea Turtles. Some NGOs and Governments oppose any action that suggests sea turtle populations are not endangered or any demonstration that they can be used sustainably. Unfortunately, maintaining a perception of poor conservation status serves other political goals. For example:

• Fund-Raising. Sea turtles play an important role in fund-raising for some NGOs. For example, WWF continues to list Hawksbill Sea Turtles as one of their top 10 endangered species, despite unequivocal evidence that the species is abundant in many countries and recovering rapidly in many others.

• Control Over Fishing Operations. Some Governments use the ‘endangered’ status of sea turtles as a legislative tool for exerting control over commercial fishing operations that take turtles as bycatch.

Countering Misinformation. The Parties to CITES are and will continue to be lobbied to oppose the registration with pseudoscientific arguments that masquerade as fact. In assessing these arguments the Parties should consider the following:

• Arguments that animal welfare is compromised within the Cayman Island Turtle Farm have been debunked by international review.

• Arguments that the Cayman Islands could not produce F₂ generation stock were debunked by the production of F₂ generation turtles.

• Arguments that ‘head-started’ (captive-reared) turtles may be compromised reproductively have been debunked by released females reaching maturity and nesting in the wild, and released males mating with wild females.

• Arguments about released animals having different genetic constitutions ignore past restocking efforts in the Caribbean, especially by the Caribbean Conservation Corporation, established by the notable scientist, Archie Carr.

• Arguments that accidental release may introduce disease lack supportive evidence. They also ignore precedents such as the USA releasing some 20,000 American Alligators raised in captivity each year, and the seeding of many fisheries operations with captive-raised fish.

• Arguments that the original stock obtained by the Cayman Islands were illegally acquired 30 years ago have been debunked by historical documents and consultation with the countries from which the founder stock was obtained.

• Arguments that legal trade will promote illegal trade make no economic sense and have been proven wrong with crocodilians - legal trade greatly reduced and replaced illegal trade.

• Arguments of vulnerability to escape ignore the recent relocation of the Cayman Island Turtle Farm.

None of these superficial arguments being used by lobby groups have any substance in fact.

There was no evidence that illegal trade would be stimulated by allowing Cayman Turtle Farm products into international commerce. (US Delegation, Proceedings of the Fifth Meeting of the Conference of Parties, Buenos Aires, 1985)