Marine Turtle Bycatch and Welfare

Marine turtles face significant bycatch mortality in longline, trawl, and gill net fisheries globally, despite protections under international conservation agreements.

Key Facts

An estimated 250,000 marine turtles are caught as bycatch annually in global fisheries
Longline fisheries targeting swordfish and tuna are particularly lethal to loggerhead and leatherback turtles
Circle hooks reduce turtle bycatch significantly compared to J-hooks and are now required in some fisheries
Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) in shrimp trawls have reduced sea turtle mortality in US waters by over 97%
Post-release mortality in turtles caught and released can be high if animals have been submerged for extended periods
Six of seven sea turtle species are listed as threatened or endangered on the IUCN Red List

Welfare Considerations

Turtles caught in fishing gear experience drowning stress as air-breathing animals, physical injury from hooks or net entanglement, and exhaustion from struggling. Even when released alive, internal hook damage, entanglement injuries, and decompression effects cause delayed mortality. Turtles caught near the surface have better survival prospects than those entangled at depth. The welfare and conservation cases for bycatch reduction are strongly aligned.

What You Can Do

Support fisheries that use TEDs and circle hooks as minimum bycatch reduction standards
Choose seafood certified by programs with documented turtle bycatch monitoring
Advocate for mandatory bycatch mitigation in longline fisheries in your jurisdiction
Donate to sea turtle rehabilitation centers that treat bycatch-injured animals
Back international agreements strengthening protections for sea turtles across their migratory routes