Sea turtles are caught as bycatch in fisheries worldwide, causing both conservation and welfare harm. Technological solutions exist but require commercial adoption and regulatory support.
Sea turtles caught as bycatch experience significant acute suffering: drowning, hook injuries, entanglement trauma and stress from handling. Turtles that appear dead may be comatose from cold stunning or oxygen deprivation and can be revived with appropriate care. The welfare case for turtle bycatch reduction overlaps with the conservation case, as the same individuals lost to bycatch are the long-lived breeding adults whose survival is most important for population recovery. Despite available technology, adoption of turtle excluder devices, circle hooks and LED deterrents is inconsistent because it requires cost, training and regulatory enforcement that many fisheries lack.