Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles are captured as bycatch in fishing gear annually, experiencing drowning, injury, and stress that threatens all seven sea turtle species.
Sea turtles caught in fishing gear may spend hours or days entangled before either drowning or being hauled aboard. Survivors frequently suffer from propeller strikes, hook injuries, and decompression sickness from rapid retrieval. Post-release survival is compromised for many bycatch survivors, even when they appear healthy at the surface.