Current through Vol. 42, No. 1, September 16, 2024
Harvest, sale and purchase of aquatic turtles for commercial
purpose shall be in accordance with 29 O.S., Sections 4-103A, 4-103B and 6-204
and the following:
(1) The application
for an aquatic turtle harvest license must be signed by a Game Warden, and must
list the county or counties from which turtles will be harvested.
(2) The harvest, collection, sale or purchase
of the following turtle species is prohibited:
(A) Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macroclemys
temminckii);
(B) Chicken Turtle
(Deirochelys reticularia);
(C) Map
Turtle (Graptemys spp.);
(D)
Painted Turtles (Chrysemys ssp.)
(E) Razor-backed Musk Turtle (Sternotherus
carinatus)
(F) All State and/or
Federal threatened or endangered species;
(G) All soft shell turtles, except as
provided in Title 29 O.S., Section
4-102,
greater than sixteen (16) inches in length when measuring the carapace only
from the anterior (front) end to the posterior (rear) end shall not be kept in
possession or sold or purchased and must be returned to the water
immediately.
(3) The
possession, buying and/or selling of any terrestrial turtles commonly known as
"box turtles", is prohibited.
(4)
All traps and nets used in the harvest of turtles for commercial purposes must
have an identification tag with the owner's customer identification number
attached and the customer identification number of all persons authorized to
operate the traps and nets. All such traps and nets must be shown to the county
Game Warden at the time the Game Warden signs the license
application.
(5) All persons
licensed as a commercial turtle buyer must keep accurate records of all turtles
purchased within and exported from the State of Oklahoma. These records shall
be available for inspection by any agent of the Department at any time. A copy
of each turtle purchase transaction must be given to the seller by the buyer at
the time of the sale on forms provided by the Department. A copy of all turtle
purchase transactions and turtle exports shall be submitted to the Department
as follows:
(A) Each turtle buyer shall
complete and submit to the Department a true and accurate purchase record for
each turtle purchase transaction. Each purchase record must contain:
(i) the buyer's name and license
number;
(ii) seller's name and
license number;
(iii) counties from
which turtles were harvested;
(iv)
the total number of each species purchased;
(v) the total amount paid for each
species;
(vi) the total amount paid
for the transaction.
(vii) the
total pounds of red-eared, common snapping and soft shell turtles purchased;
(B) A copy of each
transaction along with a monthly summary must be mailed to the Department by
the 15th of each month by each turtle buyer.
(C) Each turtle buyer must supply to the
Department shipping bills of lading of all turtles exported from the state
during the monthly reporting period. A copy of all shipping bills of lading
must accompany all turtle shipments from the state.
(D) The shipping bill of lading must contain:
(i) total number of turtles in shipment;
(ii) number of each species of
turtles in shipment;
(iii) date of
shipment;
(iv) person firm or
corporation's name transporting turtles out of Oklahoma;
(v) person firm or corporation's name(s) that
sold or otherwise provided the turtles to be transported out of
Oklahoma;
(vi) total pounds of
turtles in the shipment;
(vii)
total pounds of each species of turtles in the shipment;
(viii) turtle harvest season dates and turtle
species legal for harvest;
(ix)
state, if other than Oklahoma, were turtles were harvested;
(x) destination of shipment; and
(xi) total purchase price of turtles in
shipment.
(E) Each turtle
buyer must supply to the Department an annual summary report of all turtles, by
species, purchased within and exported from the State of Oklahoma. This report
shall contain:
(i) total number of turtles of
each species purchased or received;
(ii) total purchase value of turtles
purchased or received;
(iii) total
number and pounds of turtles of each species exported from Oklahoma.
(iv) total pounds of red-eared, common
snapping and softshell turtles purchased or received;
(6) Inaccurate or incomplete
records or delinquent reports shall be violations of this rule.
Amended at 11 Ok Reg 4701, eff 8-31-94 (emergency);
Amended at 12 Ok Reg 1525, eff 1-1-96 ; Amended at 12 Ok Reg 3476, eff 1-2-96
through 7-14-96 (emergency); Amended at 14 Ok Reg 1478, eff 1-1-98 ; Amended
at 15 Ok Reg 2057, eff 7-1-98 ; Amended at 22 Ok Reg 1624, eff 7-1-05 ; Amended
at 26 Ok Reg 2635, eff 1-1-10 ; Amended at 30 Ok Reg 733, eff
6-1-13
