Quote Originally Posted by nalob View Post
I think it's due to turtles being on the endagered species list in the 20th century. Anybody have experience working with turtle shell to shape to make scales? My wife is from Palau and says it's not illegal there to harvest turtles and they still eat them there but I think it's illegal to sell shells and jewelry made from it. Told her I wouldn't sell it but would love to make scales for a wade and butcher to hand down to my sons when they are older
Quote Originally Posted by ScienceGuy View Post
Yes it is illegal to buy/sell in many countries due to CITES restrictions, often even to modify it (i.e. work it into new shapes). The laws vary by country and are more complicated than you might think. Btw I've heard that it works like horn.
Oh man ... that's too bad! I still have some shells from WAY back in the day when I was living in the caribbean, that I was hoping to have converted into scales. I mean after I got my heljestrand with genuine tortoiseshell, I was "sold." They are beautiful and fact is, hanging them up now gets people all into a frenzy.