Sea turtles caught as bycatch in fishing gear experience significant welfare harm including drowning, physical injury, and exhaustion, and turtle excluder devices and careful release protocols substantially reduce this harm.
Sea turtle bycatch welfare involves both the acute trauma of capture and the chronic welfare consequences of entanglement injuries that affect turtles surviving initial events. Turtles drowned in trawl nets face acute asphyxiation, while those trapped in gillnets may experience prolonged distress before either drowning or being released. Turtles revived and released at sea may survive apparent drowning if resuscitation is performed, but chronic injuries from longline hooks embedded in the esophagus or entanglement wounds require veterinary treatment. Turtle Excluder Devices represent one of the most welfare-effective fishing gear modifications available, providing near-complete escape opportunity for captured turtles. The combination of gear modification, careful at-sea resuscitation training for fishers, and reporting systems for injured turtles creates a welfare improvement package with proven effectiveness.