Friday, July 28, 2023

When I was in high school, a very good friend of mine had grandparents who were commercial crab trappers in the Keys. I would work for them when school was out. They, 'allegedly,' would occasionally catch green sea turtles, butcher them and fry them. It's really good meat, very unique flavors. We were doing this, 'allegedly,' after it was illegal to kill them. I had no idea. With the passage of the Endangered Species Act in 1973, harvesting sea turtles had became illegal. I don’t even know if they knew that when we were 'allegedly' doing it. Prior to the Florida Endangered and Threatened Species Act of 1977 was passed, I became very aware of the fact that sea turtles were protected and never killed another one. There seemed to be a lot of Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission officers making everyone aware of a lot of new legislation in those days.
There was actually a cannery in Key West during the late '60's that specialized in turtle meat. And you could buy a dinner with turtle meat during the '50' and '60's according to my friends grandparents and parents.


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