All seven species of sea turtle face threat from accidental capture in fishing gear. Bycatch causes drowning, injury, and stress, pushing already endangered populations closer to extinction.
Bycatch causes acute suffering for sea turtles. Entanglement in nets and on longline hooks causes physical injury including hook ingestion, line entanglement cutting into flesh, and exhaustion from struggling. Turtles unable to surface drown, experiencing oxygen deprivation and distress before death. Even turtles released alive often suffer from post-release syndrome where accumulated lactic acid causes organ failure days later. Cold stunning from accidental entrainment in cold waters causes hypothermia and disorientation. The combination of injury, stress, and mortality represents a significant ongoing welfare crisis for these long-lived, slow-reproducing animals.