Aquatic Animal Welfare

Sea Turtle Bycatch in Fisheries

All seven species of sea turtle are threatened with extinction, and bycatch in fishing gear remains one of the primary causes of mortality worldwide.

Key Facts

An estimated 250,000 sea turtles are accidentally caught in fishing gear each year
Longlines, trawls, and gillnets all catch sea turtles as bycatch
Caught turtles often drown or suffer internal injuries from ingested hooks
Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) can reduce trawl bycatch by over 90%
All sea turtle species are protected under CITES and national laws in most countries

Welfare Considerations

Sea turtles caught in fishing gear experience extreme stress, physical injury, and often painful death from drowning or hook ingestion. Those released alive may carry injuries that compromise their survival. Bycatch is particularly harmful because sea turtles are long-lived, slow to mature, and reproduce at low rates — meaning every individual lost has a significant population impact. Reducing bycatch is both a welfare and conservation imperative.

What You Can Do

Support seafood certification schemes that require bycatch monitoring
Advocate for mandatory TED use in all trawl fisheries operating in turtle habitat
Reduce consumption of fish caught using non-selective gear types
Support organisations working on turtle rescue and rehabilitation
Report beached or entangled turtles to wildlife rescue organisations