What do you think?
Rate this book
The Case of the Green Turtle: An Uncensored History of a Conservation Icon
The true story of the controversial battle to save the world’s most famous endangered species. The journals of early maritime explorers traversing the Atlantic Ocean often describe swarms of sea turtles, once a plentiful source of food. Many populations had been decimated by the 1950s, when Archie Carr and others raised public awareness of their plight. One species, the green turtle, has been the most heavily exploited due to international demand for turtle products, especially green turtle soup. The species has achieved some measure of recovery due to thirty years of conservation efforts, but remains endangered. In The Case of the Green Turtle , Alison Rieser provides an unparalleled look into the way science and conservation interact by focusing on the most controversial aspect of green turtle conservation―farming. While proponents argued that farming green sea turtles would help save them, opponents countered that it encouraged a taste for turtle flesh that would lead to the slaughter of wild stocks. The clash of these viewpoints once riveted the world. Rieser relies on her expertise in ocean ecology, policy, and law to reveal how the efforts to preserve sea turtles changed marine conservation and the way we view our role in the environment. Her study of this early conservation controversy will fascinate anyone who cares about sea turtles or the oceans in which they live.
- GenresHistory
352 pages, Hardcover
First published May 31, 2012
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 16, 2013
OK, I'm a sucker for pretty much anything that has to do with the ocean. With that being said, I jumped at the chance to give this book a read.
To begin with, this is NOT a book that describes the natural history or biology of the green sea turtle. What it IS, is an account of the exploitation and conservation history of this iconic species, including policy proposals, implications, legal battles, and national and international players, including nations around the world where sea turtles live and where their products were consumed (e.g., turtle soup, wax, tortoise shell-products, leather, etc.).
Rieser, a professor of marine policy at the University of Hawaii, is well-trained and well placed to write this history. Her credentials and experience greatly increase the value of her book.
The story of the green sea turtle and almost all sea turtle species has a happier ending (at least so far) than that of just about any other exploited marine resource. If the topic of marine conservation interests you, you might consider reading "The Unnatural History of the Sea" by Callum Roberts for more historical examples of humanity's exploitation of the sea.
Anyway, the general pattern of human exploitation of wild populations of commercially marketable marine species (whales to seaweeds) goes something like this:
1) Discover a resource
2) Create a new market or exploit an existing market for/with the resource
3) Develop luxury status for resource if possible to drive prices up
4) Continue to exploit the resource as quickly and with the largest possible harvest possible so you get as much of the resource as possible before it falls below levels that can be harvested profitably
5) Having decimated the resource...move on and start exploiting a similar resource or exploit the same resource, but in a different location
6) Repeat.
Rieser tells the story of the exploitation history of the green sea turtle, a species with a world-wide tropical and subtropical distribution. It was exploited for its meat and its eggs. You will be amazed at how many eggs have been harvested annually when you read the book. You will also be amazed at how oblivious we (humans) were to the impacts our hunting of adult turtles and collecting eggs their eggs, together with coastal development and destruction of nesting beaches, were having on the populations of sea turtles worldwide.
I have to admit that I found the first chapter or two a little dry, but once I got rolling, I really enjoyed the book. Rieser's writing does not get in the way of the story being told. She also does not editorialize or act the pundit as the story unfolds. She simply lets the story and related events unfold and tell the story on their own.
This is not a bleeding-heart tree-hugger book. It is, instead, a meaningful, well-documented account of the exploitation, then overexploitation, and then conservation efforts made to protect the green sea turtle.
5 stars, even though it has a slow start. I'll be adding this to the book list I provide to my marine biology students.
To begin with, this is NOT a book that describes the natural history or biology of the green sea turtle. What it IS, is an account of the exploitation and conservation history of this iconic species, including policy proposals, implications, legal battles, and national and international players, including nations around the world where sea turtles live and where their products were consumed (e.g., turtle soup, wax, tortoise shell-products, leather, etc.).
Rieser, a professor of marine policy at the University of Hawaii, is well-trained and well placed to write this history. Her credentials and experience greatly increase the value of her book.
The story of the green sea turtle and almost all sea turtle species has a happier ending (at least so far) than that of just about any other exploited marine resource. If the topic of marine conservation interests you, you might consider reading "The Unnatural History of the Sea" by Callum Roberts for more historical examples of humanity's exploitation of the sea.
Anyway, the general pattern of human exploitation of wild populations of commercially marketable marine species (whales to seaweeds) goes something like this:
1) Discover a resource
2) Create a new market or exploit an existing market for/with the resource
3) Develop luxury status for resource if possible to drive prices up
4) Continue to exploit the resource as quickly and with the largest possible harvest possible so you get as much of the resource as possible before it falls below levels that can be harvested profitably
5) Having decimated the resource...move on and start exploiting a similar resource or exploit the same resource, but in a different location
6) Repeat.
Rieser tells the story of the exploitation history of the green sea turtle, a species with a world-wide tropical and subtropical distribution. It was exploited for its meat and its eggs. You will be amazed at how many eggs have been harvested annually when you read the book. You will also be amazed at how oblivious we (humans) were to the impacts our hunting of adult turtles and collecting eggs their eggs, together with coastal development and destruction of nesting beaches, were having on the populations of sea turtles worldwide.
I have to admit that I found the first chapter or two a little dry, but once I got rolling, I really enjoyed the book. Rieser's writing does not get in the way of the story being told. She also does not editorialize or act the pundit as the story unfolds. She simply lets the story and related events unfold and tell the story on their own.
This is not a bleeding-heart tree-hugger book. It is, instead, a meaningful, well-documented account of the exploitation, then overexploitation, and then conservation efforts made to protect the green sea turtle.
5 stars, even though it has a slow start. I'll be adding this to the book list I provide to my marine biology students.
Displaying 1 of 1 review