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In some ways CTF was ahead of its time. I believe this was because Jim and Fern Wood, who managed the farm for many years, were professionally trained biologists interested in advancing knowledge about marine turtle biology. During their tenure, CTF promoted all types of research projects involving collaborators from around the globe. I have never seen a complete listing of published scientific papers based on studies conducted at CTF, but I expect there are many. This research comprised one of the most positive things to result from CTF over the years. The work contributed substantively to our knowledge about marine turtle biology, especially under captive conditions. Theoretically, other marine turtle farms in other parts of the world could do equally good things, but an up-front commitment with regard to financial and other resources would be needed before I would be a believer. Having astute, dedicated biologists involved with the operation would also be essential. Could this happen again somewhere else? I doubt it.

Let me move onto health related problems with turtle farming, an area which I have certain expertise. Since 1977 when I first arrived at the University of Florida and since 1978 when I first became involved in health issues at Cayman Turtle Farm, I have had the opportunity to see numerous types of health problems relating to farmed turtles and other reptiles. Reptile farming is no different than the farming of any other animal in the sense that certain principles apply to all farming operations. Successful farming of any aquatic species, however, has its own set of problems related to water quality and water as a medium for transmission of patho-gens. If one goes into farming without giving serious consideration to health related problems and if one is not ready to commit adequate dollars and other resources to a solid preventative medicine program, epizootics (die-offs) are inevitable.

Many farming operations are reactive rather than pro-active, only ready to spend money on health related problems when "a fire needs to be put out." In my experience this was often the case at Cayman Turtle Farm. Over the 14 years that I and other colleagues worked on health related issues at CTF, three rather significant epizootics were studied in an attempt to define the causative agent. Based on these episodes, three papers were published (Jacobson et al. 1979, 1985; Homer et al. 1994) and a fourth was published on helminths in CTF green sea turtles (Greiner et al. 1980). These papers describe only a fraction of health problems affecting the CTF turtles. I expect that the birth vs. mortality data by year has never been published and probably never will. Mortality is something that most farms do not like to talk about, but unfortunately mortality is a consequence of any farming operation. The question comes down to this: "How much mortality is acceptable and how much money is one willing to expend in keep-ing it to a reasonable level?"

Based on my professional experience at CTF and other farming operations, money dedi-cated to health related issues is typically minimal. Relatively little money was expended by CTF on the above epizootics and I expect that their veterinary bill over the years has been minimal when compared to the financial loss associated with the deaths of large numbers of turtles. The last disease I worked on -- an outbreak of chlamydiosis following a near disastrous winter storm -- resulted in a major die-off. I was told that the loss ran into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, yet the financial support for studying this disease outbreak was less than US$ 5000. Concerted efforts to obtain adequate funding to study the disease, including developing a serodiagnostic test, were unsuccessful.

With this background, let us look at health related issues associated with captive breeding and release. A paper discussing this issue has already been published (Jacobson 1993), so I will limit my comments to the most salient points. As mentioned above, disease problems are a significant issue with all types of animal farming and captive propagation operations. Years ago when we knew very little about these problems, it was easy to picture a breeding/rearing facility as a means to help sustain populations in the wild. Unfortunately, as this field of knowledge has matured and databases are now maintained on disease problems in captive and free-ranging wildlife, this approach has become more complicated. Certain pathogens, and the diseases they produce, are amplified in captivity, particularly in aquatic systems. The chlamydia seen in the most recent epizootic at CTF, and the herpesvirus responsible for gray patch disease and LET Disease are some examples.

Releasing infected, asymptomatic turtles into unexposed wild populations can result in disasters; that is, can result in major episodes of mortality. While turtle farming/ranching tied to release to the wild is very appealing, it has the potential of doing more harm than good. CTF has released large numbers of farmed turtles into local waters (Wood and Wood 1993). I expect that no one has a clue as to the potential risk to wild populations of marine turtles due to this action. Unless a farming operation can clearly demonstrate that it has the resources and commitment to establish a sound preventative medicine program and can demonstrate that only healthy turtles are being released, then it should not be supported by either conservationists or anyone else who has common sense. Goals and objectives must be clearly stated and time lines generated to determine success.

The rearing and release of baby turtles (and other animals) into wild populations is appealing since it often captures the public's attention. As such, these programs have a certain amount of charisma. However, when one looks deep into the issues of rearing and release, many problems surface. The more we know, the more difficult the task becomes. For me, the verdict is still out with regard to the conservation merits of sea turtle farming. While there is much potential for many significant contributions, the potential for ecological disasters is equally real.

Greiner et al. 1980. Helminths of mariculture-reared green turtles (Chelonia mydas mydas) from Grand Cayman, B.W.I. Proc. Helminth. Soc., Washington D. C. 47:142-144.

Homer, B. L., E. R. Jacobson, J. Schumacher and G. Scherba. 1994. Chlamydiosis in mariculture-reared green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas). Vet. Pathol. 31:1-7.

Jacobson, E. R. et al. 1979. Mycotic pneumonia of mariculture-reared green sea turtles. J. Amer. Vet. Med. Assoc. 175:929-933.

Jacobson, E. R. et al. 1985. Conjunctivitis, tracheitis, and pneumonia associated with herpes-virus infection in green sea turtles. J. Amer. Vet. Med. Assoc. 189:1020-1023.

Jacobson, E. R. 1993. Implications of infectious disease for captive propagation and introduc-tion programs of threatened/endangered reptiles. J. Zoo Wildl. Med. 24:245-255.

Owens, D. W. 1995. "Last Chance Lost?" Or Is It? A Book Review. Marine Turtle Newsletter 71:11-12.

Wood, J. and F. Wood. 1993. Release and recapture of captive reared green sea turtles,Chelonia mydas, in the waters surrounding the Cayman Islands. Herpetological Journal 3:84-89.

ELLIOTT R. JACOBSON, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32610 USA.