By Katherine Groff

After receiving more than 1,000 letters from sea turtle advocates in recent months, the United Kingdom informed the The HSUS that the Cayman Islands and UK Governments do not intend to attempt to re-open international trade in endangered sea turtles at the CITES meeting in 2007.

Because the Cayman Islands is a territory of the UK and not a CITES member itself, the UK must submit proposals on its behalf.  In August, The HSUS received a letter from the government of the United Kingdom, stating that the Cayman Islands does not intend to ask the UK to submit a proposal to the CITES meeting to register the Cayman Islands Turtle Farm as an approved captive breeding facility.

The United Kingdom unsuccessfully attempted to register the Cayman farm for this status in 1985 and 2002. If approved by the member countries of CITES, the registration would have allowed international trade in turtle products from the farm and further threatened already endangered sea turtle populations.

In the letters sent to the United Kingdom, concerned individuals voiced their opposition to re-opening trade in sea turtles.

"We would like to thank all those individuals who took action, and also commend the government of the United Kingdom for its decision," said Rebecca Regenery, the program manager for oceans, treaties and wildlife protection at Humane Society International.

Experts continue to have serious concerns regarding the welfare of the turtles at the farm and the effect releasing farmed turtles has on wild populations. They also worry that the export of live turtles from the farm in November 2005 did not fully meet CITES requirements, especially because of documentation showing that the farm's founding stock of sea turtles was not acquired legally.

And while sea turtles scored a victory with the United Kingdom's decision, they still face many obstacles to survival. Consider taking action to help preserve one of the endangered loggerhead sea turtles' remaining nesting sites in the Mediterranean.