Wild Sea Turtle Welfare: Fishing Bycatch and Nesting Threats

All seven sea turtle species are threatened. Fishing gear entanglement, plastic ingestion, nesting beach disturbance, and climate-driven sex ratio skewing represent major welfare and conservation challenges.

Key Facts

An estimated 250,000 sea turtles are captured as bycatch in fishing gear annually, with significant mortality and injury among survivors
Loggerhead, leatherback, and olive ridley turtles are among the most frequently bycaught species in longlines and trawls
Climate warming is feminising sea turtle populations — nest temperature determines sex, and warming sands produce almost exclusively female hatchlings in some populations
Plastic ingestion causes intestinal blockage, false satiation, and internal damage — affecting virtually every population studied
Fibropapillomatosis, a disease causing tumour growth on skin and internal organs, is prevalent in green turtle populations near coastal development

Welfare Considerations

Sea turtles experience welfare harms across their long lives — they can live 80 years or more. Fishing gear entanglement causes traumatic injuries including flipper amputation and lung damage from forced submersion; many turtles that are released alive from bycatch die subsequently from injuries. Plastic ingestion causes internal blockage and slow starvation in animals that mistake plastic bags for jellyfish. Fibropapillomatosis tumours cause chronic discomfort and impair vision and swimming ability. Nesting beach disturbance — from lights, development, and vehicle traffic — disrupts adult nesting behaviour and disorients hatchlings navigating to the sea. The warming of nesting beaches creates a long-term welfare and population viability concern as skewed sex ratios reduce reproductive success.

What You Can Do

Support sea turtle-friendly fishing initiatives including circle hooks, TED (turtle excluder device) requirements, and bycatch reduction
Reduce single-use plastic use — plastic pollution in oceans affects sea turtles and countless other marine species
When at nesting beaches, follow wildlife watching guidelines: no flash photography, stay behind nesting females, and reduce light pollution
Support sea turtle conservation organisations including the Sea Turtle Conservancy, Oceana, and WWF
Advocate for climate action to reduce warming that skews sea turtle sex ratios and threatens nesting beach integrity