Georgia agency will research imperiled diamondback terrapin but declines to require protections

The Georgia Board of Natural Resources has rejected a petition aimed at protecting diamondback terrapins from crab nets, but state wildlife experts will perform a statewide terrapin survey and study methods for protecting the unique turtle. Terrapins live in brackish tidal creeks along the Atlantic coast as far north as Cape Cod in Massachusetts and […]

Diamondback terrapins often fall victims to crab pots. Georgia will be conducting a survey of the critters and studying devices meant to protect them. Photo by Timothy Russell

The Georgia Board of Natural Resources has rejected a petition aimed at protecting diamondback terrapins from crab nets, but state wildlife experts will perform a statewide terrapin survey and study methods for protecting the unique turtle.

Terrapins live in brackish tidal creeks along the Atlantic coast as far north as Cape Cod in Massachusetts and along the Gulf Coast from Florida all the way into Texas.

Terrapins are especially vulnerable to wandering into crab pots and drowning in a matter of hours when they can’t surface to breathe. The gregarious little turtles also tend to follow one another into the pots, increasing the death toll, and according to the petition, two derelict crab pots in one Georgia tidal marsh were found to contain 133 terrapin carcasses.

And because terrapins take a long time to reach maturity and typically only lay one or two eggs at a time, the death of a small number of adults can have a major impact on their population growth.

Georgia has implemented some policies to protect terrapins from poaching and vehicle collisions, including banning commercial harvesting and placing terrapin crossing signs on roads during nesting season. But researchers say crab pots still have the capacity to decimate their numbers.

“They are one of Georgia’s most gorgeous species,” said Will Harlan, regional director and senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, which authored the petition. “They are beautiful turtles with concentric square rings on their shells, and they are just jaw-droppingly beautiful. They’re a species of great southern pride and Georgia pride. Sadly, they’ve declined by 75% since 1975. Many populations along the Georgia coast have been wiped out completely.”

The center and other advocacy groups are calling on the state to mandate something called bycatch reduction devices in crab pots in state waters less than 200 feet in width or within 100 feet of a river or sound shoreline, where terrapins are found.

Bycatch reduction devices are small rectangular or oval portals that attach to the netting of a crab pot. They are small enough that crabs can get in but turtles can’t. Several states including Maryland and North Carolina require the devices to varying extents to protect the turtles, according to the petition.

The board rejected the petition at its Tuesday meeting after DNR Wildlife Conservation Chief Matt Elliott said the devices are “the solution long term to keeping terrapins out of crab traps,” but recommended against mandating them at the moment.

“While we share an interest with the petitioner in addressing this issue – the terrapin is a high priority species in our state wildlife action plan and dealing with this issue is something that we identified in that plan – we can’t amend our current regulations now due to several critical information gaps that we have,” he said.

One of those gaps is data on terrapin population and trends. According to DNR, a 2007-2008 estimate showed a pattern of declining terrapin population associated with commercial crabbing, but the study was not precise enough to track changes over time.

Elliott said DNR will use a new survey methodology the department says will allow for population monitoring over a wide scale starting next year.

“We would like to take a more fine scale, targeted approach to this, rather than a full approach of regulations,” he said. “And to do that, we really need updated data on where the terrapins are and where they’re coming into contact with the crab traps, so we are going to begin this spring with using the new census technique to help us better inform how many terrapins we have out there.”

Elliott said the department’s study will also include an economic assessment on the potential impact on crabbers, including the costs of adding the devices and potential catch reductions, as well as an evaluation on the effectiveness of different bycatch reduction configurations, including new designs not yet tested in Georgia waters.

The projected cost of the survey and related work is estimated at $25,200, according to the department.

Funding is set to come from federal State Wildlife Grants and state funds supported by fundraisers including the sale and renewal of bald eagle and monarch butterfly license plates as well as donations.

Speaking after the board voted down the petition, Harlan said the decision was disappointing, but he’s encouraged by the department’s commitment to study the critters and the devices intended to protect them.

“We’re really excited about their commitment to conduct coast-wide studies of diamondback terrapins,” he said. “That’s needed to happen for a long time, and it’s promising that they’ve now committed the funding and the resources to make that happen. That’ll give us the data we need to really understand what’s happening to diamondback terrapins. We know from studies throughout Georgia that they’re declining everywhere they’re surveyed, but this will be the first comprehensive statewide study, so that’s really promising.”

Harlan said he’s hopeful the examination of the bycatch devices will mean the board will consider mandating them in the future.

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