Green sea turtles have recovered in some populations thanks to decades of protection, but bycatch in fishing gear, coastal development, and climate change continue to threaten their survival.
Green sea turtles experience welfare impacts across their entire life cycle. Bycatch in trawls, longlines, and gillnets causes drowning, propeller injuries, and hook ingestion. Turtles entangled in ghost gear suffer slow deaths from exhaustion and starvation. Fibropapillomatosis causes grotesque tumours that impair vision, feeding, and swimming, leading to debilitation over months or years. Beach development destroys nesting habitat and artificial lighting disorients hatchlings. Boat strikes cause severe trauma and death. Ingestion of plastic bags, mistaken for jellyfish, causes intestinal obstruction. Despite these threats, successful conservation interventions demonstrate that turtle welfare and population recovery can both improve when fishing regulations, beach protection, and disease research receive sustained investment.