Ending sea turtle farming
The Cayman Turtle Farm is the last sea turtle farm on earth that breeds sea turtles for human consumption. But there is no humane way to farm sea turtles.
Sea turtles are solitary, migratory creatures, born to swim long distances in clear waters. They are wild animals. So imagine the cruelty of trapping one in a small filthy tank. Now imagine hundreds, thousands. Packed together, the 9,500 turtles at the Cayman Turtle Farm spend their whole lives fighting for space in cramped tanks. They get sick and stressed. They turn on each other – biting and maiming one another.
Tourists visiting the farm are encouraged to handle the turtles, not realizing that this causes the turtles mental torment. Tourists are targeted again when these same turtles are slaughtered and served as steaks and burgers in local restaurants.
These amazing and endangered creatures deserve a better, more natural life.
Our solution is for the farm to be turned into a sea turtle rehabilitation and education facility like the Kélonia Observatory for Marine Turtles on the island of Réunion which mirrors the conditions of a turtle’s natural habitat.
Kélonia has become a world-respected research sea turtle conservation and education facility, and a popular eco-tourist destination. Its success shows that it is possible for the Cayman Turtle Farm to shift away from turtle farming and towards a more humane, sustainable and profitable alternative.
The transformation from turtle farm to rehabilitation and release center has happened before. It can happen again. Help move the Cayman government, the legal owner of the farm, to improve the conditions at the farm and create positive change for sea turtles.
- Download our report: A continued case for change
- Read our academic research: The Cayman Turtle Farm: Why we can't have our green turtle and eat it too
- Read our academic research: Welfare and Environmental Implications of Farmed Sea Turtle
- Read our academic research: Health Implications associated with exposure to farmed and wild sea turtles
- Download the Freedom of Information Responses
- Share our infographic: Why sea turtle farming must end
- Share our infographic: The solution sea turtles need
- Watch our videos
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