Threatened species of Cheloniidae

Threatened species of marine turtles
Threatened species of sea turtles

Incidence

In 1999, the World Trade Organization ruled against a US law that required countries that exported shrimp to the USA to use a special shrimp device on shrimp nets. The device prevented sea turtles from becoming entangled in the nets and drowning. India, Pakistan, Malaysia and Thailand challenged the law, saying it unfairly discriminated against their shrimp exports.

Claim

Five species of endangered sea turtles, which can live as long as 80 years and whose females lay their eggs on the beach where they were born, have suffered sharp declines in number because of shrimping in the recent decades. As many as 150,000 sea turtles die in shrimp nets each year.

You are talking about some animals that are on the brink of extinction, and the technology that can save them is in the hundreds of dollars. Yet the WTO so clearly says trade comes first.

Counter-claim

The World Trade Organization is such an easy target. The flap has the perfect protagonist, the sea turtle, and the perfect antagonist, a faceless international organization.