Minnesota will be closing commercial turtle trapping for good in September

Making all sorts of claims forgetting commercial trapping has been going on for over 100 years. And the loss of habitat is the problem.

What will be eliminated next

Anything and everything will be deemed bad the makes you independent and not reliant on the government.

Sad

Yesterday, I posted about losing the freedom to catch and sell turtles in Ohio. Here's the response I got in part.



https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/7929231/1

So much for no *** No Anti Trappers ***.

Keith

NY did that same thing a few years ago. Same fish and game taking 20 + years on an otter mgnt plan and counting.

Minnesota is trying to replace California as the most radical state and we are getting pretty close.

Mushrooms are next.

SAVE THE MUSHROOMS !!!!

,,,,,,,,For dinner !!!!!

w

I guess James has never trapped, skinned, stretched, and SOLD any kind of a pelt. Despite claims to the contrary. And never PURCHASED and consumed a commercially caught fish either.

Ia there a strong demand for turtles? Who are the buyers? Do they process and resell the meat?

Any contamination or safety concerns? Doubt there are inspectors.

I used to enjoy eating turtle with the guys. We were small time. Caught them at bridges on a baited hook.

No strong demand, just a nitch market with a limited supply.

Yes there are a few local buyers, that process and sell turtle meat.

Contanimation/safety no different than wild caught fish, nobody lives on a solid diet of turtle meat.

Yes there are inspectors for commercial meat sale just like any butcher shop.

Commercial turtle harvest and sale is getting shut down with little or no biological rational. There are claims of declining abundance, but appear to be unsubstantiated by any credible science, as no studies or population statistics are ever referenced in the articles announcing the closure.

I used to trap and sell snapping turtles to a local buyer many years ago. He taught me how to butcher turtles. He sold turtle meat to restaurants all over MN. One local restaurant had turtle every Friday.

MN still allows recreational turtle trapping for a fee. You are only allowed 3 turtles per day. Not sure what the possession limit is. I have had as many as 7 snapping turtles in a trap at once. Yet, the state claims there are a shortage of them.
Rubber back or soft shell turtles are illegal to take at all.

Except for the license money it brings in, our governor opposes hunting and fishing in most cases.

Growing up on the farm my brothers and I ate and sold a lot of turtles.

I'd venture to guess, there are less commercial turtle trappers today than 20 years ago. If there is a shortage, and I highly doubt it, it isn't from over trapping. The only "over" here is govt overreach!

Bingo!,..there is no shortage of snappers,.the only shortage is of awareness among four walled contemplaters sitting in St Paul analyzing risk assessment.

Yes, there are few commercial turtle trappers left and that's how they can get away with this, since it doesn't effect many people. That should make any fur trapper nervous as they continue to chip away.

Dirt Potlickers

My guess is The Center for Biological Diversity was involved. They started their crusade against the turtle trade years back. The market at that time was in China, and any big city with a Asian population. Iowa basically lost their commercial harvest a few years back. The turtle trappers fought them off for a number of years. They got the legislature involved and had them pass a law to establish strict rules on daily harvest and the number you could have in pos.

Turtels life's matter!!!

There were less than 20 commercial turtle license holders left including myself in Minnesota, we had absolutely no detrimental impact on the resource. Soft shell trapping was already banned a couple of years ago, it was just paints and snappers. There was a size minimum on snappers which basically meant that 80% of the females were thrown back as they weren't big enough to be legally harvested. Have not trapped turtles for a few years as the snapper market has dried up but still bought my license every year, this really stings. Gov. Walz portrays himself as a sportsman, but he is a fraud. Follow the science my (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman). Without a doubt he will sign any anti trapping bill put in front of him. He happily signed the commercial turtle trapping ban

So glad I have the memories of turtle trapping and doing it on a large scale when I had a good market for snappers and soft shells. I had turtle traps so full of snappers and or soft shells that I could barely drag it into the boat. Had $1000 dollar days on turtles. Have a good memory of my Dad riding with on my turtle line when he was dying of lung cancer. My kids got to come along a few times also. It was brutally hard work as the turtles trapped best in the hottest weather.

This ban was pushed for years by the Center for Biological Diversity, same group that got it shut down in Iowa, same group that files the lynx lawsuits. An out of state advocacy group.. In Minnesota, an agreement was made about twenty years ago between commercial turtle trappers, the DNR and the legislature to keep the season open, concessions were made by turtle trappers on seasons, size restrictions, number of traps out at one time, plus detailed reporting of catch numbers and locations. You had to report where each trap was set, water body, township, and county. Also, no new commercial license sales were allowed, only existing commercial trappers could renew each year. Once the commercial license holders died off, commercial turtle trapping in Minnesota would be over.

The DNR went back on their word and didn't support the trappers in this legislative session and said they had "concerns" about turtle trapping hurting the population. Democrats had full control of the House, Senate, and Governorship and shut us down first chance they got. Why? Because they hate us and they hate our way of life. The DNR never contacted stake holders about the ban, not that it would have mattered. I emailed some Democratic legislators when I heard about it, no one ever emailed me back. They had zero regards for the people they were impacting. You would have to suspend common sense to think less than 20 trappers would have any impact on the population whatsoever.

I'm a student of history, anyone who has read George Orwell's books, 1984 and Animal Farm can plainly see that what he wrote about almost a century ago is coming to fruition. Democrats are trying to destroy our way of life (and succeeding.) Whenever and wherever they get power they will stomp you into the ground the first chance they get. What's happening is the exact definition of tyranny by the majority. The liberal, urban elites are trying to force rural America to conform to their belief system and will do their best to destroy anyone who gets in their way.