Marine Turtle Bycatch: Reducing Incidental Capture in Fisheries

Bycatch of marine turtles in longline, trawl, and gillnet fisheries causes drowning, injury, and death for hundreds of thousands of turtles annually. Mitigation technologies and practices offer effective solutions.

Key Facts

All seven marine turtle species are listed as Threatened or Endangered under international assessments
Longline fisheries capture an estimated 200,000 loggerhead and 50,000 leatherback turtles annually
Turtles caught on longlines can drown if unable to surface, or suffer severe internal injuries from hook ingestion
Circle hooks reduce turtle bycatch by up to 80% compared to J-hooks with minimal effect on target fish catch
Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) in shrimp trawls allow turtles to escape while retaining shrimp catch
LED light attachments on gillnets have shown significant turtle bycatch reduction in some fisheries

Welfare Considerations

Turtles caught in fishing gear suffer acutely. Entanglement causes struggling, exhaustion, and drowning; hook ingestion causes internal injury, infection, and prolonged death. Turtles that survive capture often have injuries reducing survival probability after release. The welfare response — reducing bycatch through mitigation technology — aligns with conservation goals, making turtle bycatch one of the clearest cases where animal welfare and conservation interests converge. Implementation of proven mitigation tools (circle hooks, TEDs, LED nets) is technically straightforward, economically viable, and increasingly mandated. Consumer demand for certified bycatch-reduction fisheries products creates commercial incentives for adoption.

What You Can Do

Choose seafood certified by schemes requiring bycatch monitoring and mitigation (MSC, Seafood Watch)
Support organisations campaigning for circle hook requirements in longline fisheries
Advocate for mandatory TED use in shrimp trawl fisheries in countries lacking this requirement
Donate to turtle conservation organisations working on bycatch mitigation and turtle rehabilitation
Engage with retailers about the bycatch standards of their seafood suppliers