1.   Biologists are becoming increasingly concerned that turtle populations in the United States cannot sustain such harvests, especially given the lack of regulation.

2.   Once diseases get out into the wild, they are much more dangerous to the turtle population.

3.   The goal is not to eliminate the trade but to preserve the native turtle populations, they said.

4.   The National Marine and Fisheries Service, the federal agency responsible for tracking and protecting the turtle populations, says shrimping kills hundreds of the marine animals every year.

5.   The turtle alliance grew out of an international conference at the Fort Worth Zoo in January in which experts discussed the worsening crisis for Asian turtle populations.

6.   They warned recently that the continuing capture and export of American turtles, above all the box turtle, is putting enormous pressure on turtle populations.

7.   Each baby is marked with a titanium tag to help researchers track the turtle population.

8.   The increasing turtle population has surpassed the resources at the farm, where males and females have been separated to prevent further breeding.

9.   There are no official figures for the Mediterranean sea turtle population.

10.   Turtle eggs have long been considered a delicacy in southern Mexico, but the government has banned their harvest for more than a decade to help turtle populations recover.