Taste for Turtles?

Ugh. According to this NY Times editorial, the consumption of turtle meat, which used to be a rare delicacy in some Asian diets, is on the rise - particularly in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. So much so that the wild turtle population in Southeast Asia has severely declined. Now the population of common soft-shell turtles from the American Southeast are in jeopardy! I promote the consumption of self-caught, wild meat over the supermarket variety hands down, but not if the animal is endangered or headed in that direction. I hope this population decline gets more media attention soon.