Marine Turtle Bycatch and Welfare

Sea turtles are caught as bycatch in multiple fisheries globally, with drowning in nets and longline hook injuries causing significant welfare harm and conservation concern.

Key Facts

All seven marine turtle species are classified as vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered
Longline fishing causes millions of turtle interactions annually with hook ingestion and entanglement as primary injuries
Gillnets and trawl nets drown turtles unable to surface for air - turtles can hold breath for hours but not indefinitely under stress
Turtle Excluder Devices in shrimp trawls have dramatically reduced turtle bycatch mortality where mandated
Circle hooks and bait type modifications reduce longline turtle bycatch compared to traditional J-hooks with fish bait
Fishing bans in nesting beach areas during nesting season reduce interactions at a critical life stage

Welfare Considerations

Marine turtle bycatch welfare involves the suffering of individual turtles who drown or suffer hook injuries, and the conservation significance of every individual to populations already severely depleted. A loggerhead turtle drowning in a gillnet experiences the same physiological distress as any air-breathing animal deprived of oxygen. A leatherback turtle with a swallowed longline hook may survive the initial encounter but develop internal injuries causing prolonged suffering. The welfare and conservation cases for bycatch reduction are perfectly aligned: Turtle Excluder Devices, circle hooks, and time-area closures simultaneously protect individual turtles from welfare harms and protect species from cumulative mortality threatening their populations.

What You Can Do

Choose seafood from fisheries with documented marine turtle bycatch reduction measures
Support certification schemes that include sea turtle bycatch monitoring requirements
Advocate for mandatory Turtle Excluder Devices in shrimp trawl fisheries globally
Support international agreements requiring circle hooks in pelagic longline fisheries
Donate to marine turtle conservation organizations working on bycatch reduction and beach protection
Raise consumer awareness about seafood choices and their impact on marine turtle welfare