Christopher Hunter Jones, J.D. M.S.

Man’s intentional commercial take of alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys temminckii) for its meat potential is a renowned cause of population declines in the wild. (Recently the fulcrum of commercial demand for Macrochelys shifted to support the burgeoning international reptile trade). However, little is known how populations respond to incidental take. Bycatch studies of freshwater turtles from passive fishing techniques are ongoing in backwaters of the Upper Mississippi River but have not yielded any captures of Macrochelys. In 1984 the US Fish and Wildlife Service rejected enlisting Macrochelys under the federal Endangered Species Act. As a result, populations of this large, slow growing, long-lived chelydrid turtle receive no federal protection from anthropogenic mortality and habitat destruction, unlike similarly characterized marine turtles that have been listed as threatened and endangered species since the 1970s. In 2004 Louisiana became the final state in the turtle’s distribution to prohibit commercial take of Macrochelys, however rangewide, populations continue to experience incidental take, a source of mortality that state wildlife agencies likely oversee when analyzing trends in populations. This report describes anthropogenic sources of incidental take of Macrochelys based on the author’s field observations and communications with persons who accurately distinguish it from its wider ranging cousin Chelydra serpentina. A review of baseline surveys is included to glean the probable effect of incidental take on populations. Incidental mortality was observed in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Accounts are divided into five anthropogenic sources: 1) fishery devices; 2) floodplain silvicultural practices; 3) floodplain mining practices; 4) water control structures; and 5) point and nonpoint source water pollution, the most challenging source to causally connect.
Macrochelys Session Poster

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