McCarthy Album 11, Photograph 114

Title: McCarthy Album 11, Photograph 114
Description: Caption: "400 Pound Turtles Ready for Shipment -- Key West July 2, 1934." Several slaughtered sea turtles on a wharf in Key West. Turtle meat and eggs were popular food items in the early-to-mid twentieth century; turtle fat was especially prized for making turtle soup. Turtle kraals (corrals) and a cannery were built as the Key West area began to develop. However, the turtle population plummeted in the Florida Keys and surrounding areas as the twentieth century progressed and demand for turtle meat, eggs, and fat increased. The Key West turtle fishing industry halted after the Endangered Species Act was passed in 1971. Turtle populations have since started to recover. The cannery now serves as the Key West Turtle Museum.
Contributor: Audrey Fullerton-Samora of Sacramento, great niece of William and Grace McCarthy, donated the William M. McCarthy Photograph Collection to the California State Archives in 1996.
Coverage: Key West, Florida
Date: 7/2/1934
Format: JPEG, scanned at 400 DPI, 24-bit color
Identifier: 96-07-08-alb11-114
Language: English
Publisher: California State Archives, a division of the California Secretary of State's Office
Source: Image of an item within the William M. McCarthy Photograph Collection (96-07-08)
Subject: Slaughtered Turtles, Key West
Type: Still Image