Twenty green turtles are crowded into a narrow holding area, each of their front flippers are bound. The large reptiles—measuring around 80 centimeters in diameter—lay still, submissive. When the appointed time arrives, between two and four men carry them out.

The butcher then lays each of the doomed turtles on the cement floor on their backs and cut their chests open with a cleaver. Their torsos are split apart and flesh is remov