[Geomyda]

A further extract from Dr Mass's Paper which covers the questions you pose:
The History of Turtle Farming

While consumption of turtles for food is an ancient Chinese tradition, turtle farming is a relatively recent phenomenon. Commercial culture of freshwater turtles was pioneered in Japan by Mr. Hattori near Tokyo, who started with locally native Pelodiscus sinensis soft-shells in 1866. The demand and relatively high prices offered for freshwater turtles in the 1980s and 1990s spurred the development of turtle farming in countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan and China. In recent years large numbers of hatchlings were exported from Taiwan to various countries, where they were used for farming (e.g. Thailand, Malaysia). Two species that are farmed extensively in Southeast Asia, Pelodiscus sinensis and Trachemys scripta, are not endemic there, but were originally imported from Taiwan and the USA respectively.

China has emerged as a significant source of farmed turtles. The full extent of turtle farming in China was not known until the Chinese government undertook a recent review of farming operations. The results indicate that farms were operating in 14 Provinces, and that significant numbers of turtles were being held. Of the 309 million turtles reported at the time of the review, the most common species were Pelodiscus sinensis (303 million), Chinemys reevesii (2.8 million), Ocadia sinensis (1.5 million), and Chrysemys scripta (0.9 million). In order of numbers held, the following species were also recorded; Palea steindachneri, Maremys mutica, Pyxidea mouhotii, Cuora trifasciata, Chelydra serpentina, Geoemyda spengleri, Platysternon megalocephalum, Indotestudo elongata, Macroclemys temmincki, Sacalia quadriocellata and Cuora flavimarginata. Output from Chinese turtle farms in 2002 was estimated to reach 68,000 tons.

Pelodiscus sinensis is the most common species farmed in China and other parts of Asia, and millions of individuals can be seen in markets in southern China on any given day. In the 1990’s, farming of Chinese soft-shell turtles expanded exponentially in both Malaysia and Thailand and two types of Chinese soft-shell turtle farms developed. The second type of farm operators raises purchased hatchlings to a marketable weight for sale. Around the same time, domestic supply of farmed soft-shell turtles reached peak levels and prices began to drop. By 2000, prices for soft-shell turtles and other high-value freshwater aquaculture products had decreased by as much as fifty percent. Some farmers ran into financial difficulties because and began to rear hard-shelled species such as Cuora trifasciata and Mauremys mutica. Farming of hard-shelled turtles is not considered as “efficient” as it is for soft-shelled species, as the former have slower growth rates and reproduce more slowly. However, species such as Cuora trifaciata are farmed because of their high market value as a result of their perceived cancer curing properties.

In 1999, China imposed restrictions on imports of farmed soft-shell turtles because of Salmonella contamination. This was followed by further restrictions on farmed soft-shell turtles as well as wild-collected turtles as part of China’s attempts to be seen to tighten wildlife conservation and trade regulations in general. With the main export market at least officially closed, soft-shell turtle farmers outside mainland China looked for alternative markets to sell their production. Official export volumes from Thailand and Malaysia plummeted and wholesale prices slumped correspondingly, leading many farmers to close down or switch activities. Of over 10,000 farms in Thailand in 1998, 6000 remained in 2001. These were reduced to a handful of moribund operations in September 2002, most operators having switched to culturing freshwater prawns or fish. Of 30 farms operating in Langkap, Malaysia, in 1997, only 4 were left in May 2000.



Why Turtle Farming is not the Answer

Wildlife farming, including of turtles, poses major conservation threats to existing populations in the area of the farm due to the need to acquire breeding stock from wild populations, an increased risks of disease and genetic contamination of wild populations of the same or other species, risks of spreading invasive alien species (see below) and/or their diseases, and because wildlife farms frequently act as a front for illegal trade of wild-caught animals. Moreover, until population numbers in the wild decrease to a point where hunting is no longer worthwhile, wildlife farming is unlikely to reduce illegal hunting, due to the high costs of farming compared to hunting, lack of appropriate technical skills and funds, as well as cultural constraints. Thus, wildlife farming is not the panacea to solve the problems of food security and unsustainable hunting in the humid tropics as is sometimes proposed.

Prof. Shi’s research revealed that turtle farms are the main illegal turtle traders in China, as they are the sole agents allowed to buy and sell turtles in China. They are motivated solely by profit and will do anything to minimize costs and increase profits. This gives rise to a host of complications which add to what is already a difficult issue.