Sea Turtle Conservation and Welfare

Sea turtles are among the most iconic marine species, facing threats from bycatch, plastic ingestion, climate change, and poaching — with significant individual welfare implications.

Key Facts

All seven sea turtle species are listed as threatened or endangered
Sea turtles face threats from plastic ingestion, fishing gear entanglement, coastal development, and egg poaching
Climate change is affecting sand temperatures, with implications for the sex ratios of hatchlings
Fibropapillomatosis — a viral tumour disease — affects significant proportions of some sea turtle populations
Conservation programmes including beach protection and hatchery management have enabled population recovery in some areas

Welfare Considerations

Sea turtle welfare encompasses the suffering of individual animals from plastic ingestion, entanglement, and disease as well as the population-level effects of conservation threats. Fibropapillomatosis tumours cause progressive debilitation that reduces swimming ability, vision, and feeding — a prolonged deterioration in welfare before death. Plastic ingestion, like in seabirds, causes false satiety and eventual starvation. Conservation measures that protect nesting beaches and reduce bycatch directly improve the welfare of individual sea turtles by reducing these sources of harm. Sea turtle rehabilitation programmes also provide welfare benefit to injured individuals while contributing to population recovery.

What You Can Do

Support sea turtle conservation organisations working on beach protection and bycatch reduction
Choose seafood certified from fisheries with turtle excluder devices and low turtle bycatch
Reduce single-use plastic use to reduce ocean plastic ingestion risk
Advocate for fishing gear requirements that protect sea turtles in critical habitats
Support marine protected areas that protect sea turtle feeding and nesting habitats