Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

there are lots of recipes for turtle, so my opinion has changed somewhat about eating them. aparently lots of people eat them. I am consulting with an aboriginal chef via email right now to get more information about freshwater turtles, legality and so on. an article he wrote stated it was his favorite food along with dugong so I hope he has some info that will help.
these are just some articles I found concerning native turtles... enjoy.

http://www.turtlebreeders.com.au/turtlecare.pdf
http://www.anbg.gov.au/cpbr/WfHC/Chelidae/index.html

we were not allowed to shoot them ...

I love to see the recipes when you get then.
There are masses of them in the lakes at Bendigo.

Ok...this is the most part of the reply I got from the aboriginal chef.

hi mick - thanks for the letter.

i raised some freshwater turtles once in a pond i dug in my garden. the baby ones i found had been all dropped by crows trying to crack their shells. it's good to give them mud they can burrow under in the winter - that's also the best time to eat them, digging them out of the mud. best cooked in hot ash bed or in a ground oven. for the legal side you should check with parks and wildlife - i think they might be protected. i know you english do a dish called terrapin soup - that's freshwater turtle as far as i know.
as far as the law of the land goes - my opinion is nothing to that. that's something you'd have to explore yourself - you'd need to get permissions from the local land council. stay away from the short neck ones that smell - they're no good for eating.
there's also probably a market for the shells - they come up good polished. once again, check at local land council - this probably won't be allowed. but maybe it's a business you could set up with the land council as partners - that might be something that you can do to help out.
if you do eat a turtle - don't throw away the gut because it is the best part.

I think I might need to see this demonstrated before I would have a go.

It sounds a bit like the medieval recipe for cooking hare:

Is that jugged hare [kill hare and bury with guts still in till it turns green then cook ] yummo

I think most turtle recipes are for ocean turtles not freshwater turtles. I've pretty much given up on the idea now. until something surfaces that sounds promising I'm just going to leave it.

I think it is open to interpretation.

Who said wogs and asians eat weird stuff?

What about green beef.

Prepare carcass (in the usual way of course) and hang until green.

Scrape off green bits, fry and eat.

http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/cps/rde/xchg/ ... A_HTML.htm

According to this,turtles are protected in qld, doesn't seem to specify freshwater or otherwise.

Soup made from (freshwater) snapping turtle is a delicacy here. Serve with a liberal dose of Sherry poured on top of the soup. And maybe top it off after you've had a few spoonfuls of soup. And them shmaybe top iss off again.

http://www.recipesource.com/soups/soups/19/rec1913.html

I think because of the semi exotic nature of these species as a food, anyone that had permission to breed, and sell as food would make a fortune. who wants to take commercial AP to the next level?

I am only beginning to become interested in aquaponics. I do not have any systems of my own but I have a biology teacher friend who is really into it. I am thinking of starting one up. I am into turtles and yes, I firmly believe that "turtle water" can greatly enhance the growth of certain types of plants. I've used it to water mondo grass and other plants that have flourished almost out of control!

Yes, turtles can carry salmonella but I do not know how it is transferred. It is fine for humans to handle turtles as long as you wash your hands thoroughly after handling them as you would any other animal. Does anyone know if salmonella can be transferred from an animal to a plant through water? I really doubt this would happen but don't know for sure.

Some of the best freshwater turtles to consume would be the Snapper, Alligator Snapper, Softshells and at the turn of the last century Diamondback Terrapins were almost consumed to extinction. I don't believe Diamondbacks are currently endangered, however, I do not know about the current legalities. The Chinese Softshell was featured as a secret ingredient on Iron Chef (Japan version). I had to turn off the TV. Couldn't imagine eating a pet.

Welcome aboard takoman
From what I gather salmonella can be transfered if infected water etc comes in contact with the plant. As in splashing salmonella infected water omn the edible portion of the plant and not washing it before eating it.
I also read somewhere that lettuce was one of the easiest places to contract it from because most people fail to wash their veggies well enough.

Totugas are cool

Torres Straight Islanders and the Australian Aboriginals all LOVE to eat turtles. Turtles are there claim, as a food source. You always know when they have been having a turtle camp oven dinner, it comes out in their pores and their sweat. Turtle poo has a really really bad stentch to it, and can clear the back deck of a twrawler even before the bags are emptied. Fun Fun Fun

Thanks for sharing Jessy!