Marine Animals

Sea Turtle Bycatch and Entanglement

Sea turtles of all seven species face serious welfare threats from accidental capture in fishing gear, causing drowning, injury, and population decline.

Key Facts

All seven sea turtle species are classified as threatened or endangered
An estimated 250,000 sea turtles are captured as bycatch annually
Longlines, trawls, and gillnets all pose entanglement risk
Turtles can drown in minutes if unable to surface to breathe
Circle hooks reduce turtle capture rates by up to 90% vs J-hooks

Welfare Considerations

Entangled turtles experience drowning, injuries from hooks and lines, and exhaustion from struggling against gear. Those that survive capture often die later from injuries or stress. The welfare harm is significant at the individual level, and at the population level bycatch threatens the survival of species that have existed for 100 million years. Turtle excluder devices and circle hooks are proven, cost-effective solutions.

What You Can Do

Choose seafood from fisheries using turtle-safe gear
Support certification schemes requiring turtle excluder devices
Advocate for circle hook requirements in longline fisheries
Donate to sea turtle rescue and rehabilitation programmes
Participate in beach monitoring schemes that protect nesting turtles