Sea Turtle Bycatch: Welfare and Conservation Impacts

Sea turtles are caught incidentally in longlines, trawls, and gillnets globally, causing injuries, drowning, and death that threaten conservation and cause significant individual suffering.

Key Facts

An estimated 250,000 sea turtles are caught as bycatch in commercial fisheries annually
Sea turtles can drown in trawl nets within 40 minutes of capture
Longline hooks cause internal injuries and entanglement in nesting females
Turtle Excluder Devices reduce sea turtle bycatch by up to 97% with minimal fish loss
All seven sea turtle species are threatened or endangered
Tori lines and circle hooks reduce turtle bycatch in longline fisheries

Welfare Considerations

Sea turtle bycatch causes both conservation harm at the population level and significant individual suffering. Drowning in trawl nets, hook ingestion in longlines, and entanglement injuries are often severe and painful. Technology to reduce bycatch - including Turtle Excluder Devices, modified hooks, and lighting of gillnets - is available and effective but inconsistently adopted across global fisheries. Fisheries management that requires proven bycatch reduction technology protects both sea turtle welfare and conservation.

What You Can Do

Choose seafood certified by programs with strong bycatch monitoring like MSC
Support organizations advocating for Turtle Excluder Device requirements in trawl fisheries
Donate to sea turtle conservation programs that address bycatch as a primary threat
Advocate for international fisheries agreements requiring bycatch reduction technology