Marine Turtle Bycatch: Welfare in Industrial Fisheries

Marine turtles are accidentally caught in fishing gear designed for other species, causing drowning, injury, and death on a massive scale. Bycatch reduction measures exist and work.

Key Facts

All seven marine turtle species are threatened or endangered, with longline and trawl fisheries identified as major mortality drivers
Turtles entangled in fishing nets drown when unable to surface to breathe - they can hold their breath 4-7 hours under stress
Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) in shrimp trawls allow turtles to escape while retaining shrimp - adoption is mandatory in US waters
Circle hooks in longline fisheries catch fewer turtles than J-hooks while maintaining or improving target species catch
Observer coverage to document and quantify bycatch is essential for management but is costly and inconsistently applied
Drift longlines (targeting swordfish and tuna) interact with loggerhead and leatherhead turtles at significant rates
Countries with strong bycatch regulations show demonstrably lower turtle bycatch rates than those without such requirements

Welfare Considerations

Marine turtle bycatch causes severe suffering at the individual level. A turtle caught in a bottom trawl is dragged through the water for the duration of the tow - typically 2-4 hours - unable to surface. Those that do not drown experience the physical trauma of capture, net entanglement injuries, and the stress of the entire haul-back process before either death or release. Longline hook injuries cause oral lacerations, hook ingestion, and the exhaustion of struggling against the line. Turtles released alive from bycatch events face uncertain survival - many die from injury or physiological stress days after release. The scale of bycatch across global fisheries means this represents an enormous aggregate welfare harm.

What You Can Do

Choose seafood certified by Marine Stewardship Council and other standards that include bycatch reduction requirements
Ask retailers and restaurants about their suppliers' bycatch monitoring and reduction practices
Advocate for mandatory Turtle Excluder Device requirements in shrimp fisheries globally
Support the shift from J-hooks to circle hooks in longline fisheries through consumer and regulatory pressure
Donate to sea turtle conservation organizations monitoring bycatch and advocating for gear modifications
Engage with international fisheries management bodies about binding bycatch limits for endangered species