Sea Turtle Bycatch Welfare | Animal Welfare Hub

Sea turtles caught as bycatch in fishing gear suffer drowning, injuries, and exhaustion, with hundreds of thousands captured annually in longlines and trawls worldwide.

Key Facts

All seven sea turtle species are listed as vulnerable to critically endangered
Longline fisheries are estimated to catch 200,000+ sea turtles annually as bycatch
Trawl nets cause drowning when turtles cannot surface to breathe
Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) reduce turtle bycatch by up to 97% in shrimp trawls
Circle hooks and mackerel bait instead of J-hooks reduce longline turtle bycatch significantly

Welfare Considerations

Bycatch imposes acute suffering on sea turtles. Trawl-caught turtles may drown after minutes to hours of air deprivation; longline-caught turtles may be hooked internally or externally and remain attached to lines for extended periods before retrieval. Even when released alive, the stress, injuries, and physiological disruption of capture cause significant welfare impacts and reduce survival probability. The availability of effective mitigation measures — TEDs, circle hooks, time-area closures — means that much of this suffering is preventable.

What You Can Do

Choose seafood certified by programmes requiring turtle-safe gear
Support policies mandating Turtle Excluder Devices in trawl fisheries
Avoid shrimp from fisheries without bycatch mitigation requirements
Support sea turtle conservation organisations working on bycatch reduction