What you can do
to protect terrapins
1. Be careful if boating and/or using personal watercraft around marsh systems and try to avoid submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) beds.
2. If using commercial-style crab pots, USE BYCATCH REDUCTION
DEVICES (turtle excluders). Contact MATES Project Terrapin to acquire them.
3. If driving on roadways adjacent to marsh areas during the months of May, June or July, DRIVE SLOWLY. Adult female terrapins may be coming up to nest.
4. Do not take terrapins from the wild. In New Jersey, there are regulations preventing turtle capture.
5. Do not support the “online” turtle industry. Hatchling sales may be a source of future depletion of the species, plus it is difficult to provide
proper care for a hatchling!
6. If you live in an area with terrapins, consider a “turtle garden”.
