Sea Turtle Bycatch Welfare: Drowning in Fishing Gear

Sea turtles are accidentally caught in fishing gear worldwide, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths and injuries annually. Practical mitigation tools can dramatically reduce this welfare crisis.

Key Facts

All seven sea turtle species are listed as Threatened or Endangered
Estimated 250,000+ sea turtles are caught as bycatch in longlines and trawls annually
Turtles caught in trawl nets drown within minutes to hours depending on depth and net soak time
Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) in trawl nets allow turtles to escape and reduce capture by over 90%
Circle hooks rather than J-hooks in longline fisheries reduce turtle bycatch by 85% or more
Post-release mortality from hooked turtles depends on hook placement and handling
Sea turtle interactions with ghost gear (lost or abandoned fishing equipment) are a growing concern
Bycatch data are severely underreported in many global fisheries

Welfare Considerations

Sea turtles caught in fishing gear experience acute distress from entanglement and, in drowning situations, the physiological trauma of submersion below their respiratory threshold. Turtles caught on longline hooks suffer from the hook wound itself, the stress of struggling to surface, and often secondary drowning if they cannot reach air. Handling methods after capture significantly affect survival; cold-stunned or hypoxic turtles require careful revival before release. TEDs and circle hooks are proven, cost-effective interventions that fisheries have in many cases resisted adopting without regulatory mandate. Fisheries certification schemes that require bycatch mitigation measures provide market-based incentives for adoption and are an effective lever for welfare improvement at scale.

What You Can Do

Choose seafood certified by schemes that require sea turtle bycatch mitigation
Advocate for mandatory TED requirements in all trawl fisheries operating in turtle habitat
Support sea turtle monitoring programs that track bycatch and post-release survival
Donate to organizations providing training to fishing communities on safe turtle release
Reduce plastic waste that contributes to ocean debris and entanglement risk
Urge your government to strengthen sea turtle protections in fisheries legislation