Sea Turtle Bycatch: Welfare Impacts and Solutions

Sea turtles are caught accidentally in many fisheries worldwide, causing injury, drowning, and death, and reducing this bycatch requires changes in fishing gear and practices.

Key Facts

All seven sea turtle species are listed as threatened or endangered, with bycatch a leading cause of mortality
Longline fishing for tuna and swordfish accounts for an estimated 150,000 sea turtle interactions annually
Drowning in nets and on longlines causes distress and death when turtles cannot surface to breathe
Circle hooks and fish bait rather than squid on longlines can reduce turtle catch rates by up to 90%
Turtle excluder devices (TEDs) in shrimp trawls are required in some countries and effectively reduce bycatch

Welfare Considerations

Sea turtle bycatch welfare impacts are severe - turtles may spend prolonged periods struggling against restraint before drowning or being brought to the surface. Injuries from hooks and nets include deep hook ingestion, flipper damage, and internal injuries that may prove fatal after release. Even when released alive, many turtles die from internal injuries or the physiological stress of capture. Reducing bycatch requires fisheries-wide adoption of proven mitigation measures, supported by effective monitoring and enforcement.

What You Can Do

Choose seafood certified to standards requiring bycatch mitigation including sea turtle protection
Support conservation organisations working on sea turtle bycatch reduction in priority fisheries
Advocate for universal adoption of circle hooks and TEDs in fisheries with high turtle interaction rates
Support observer programmes that monitor sea turtle bycatch rates and compliance with mitigation
Engage with seafood retailers about their supply chain requirements for turtle bycatch reduction