Fewer Sea Turtles Killed In U.S. Fisheries, But Still Too Many, Study Finds

Every year, 4,600 sea turtles are killed in U.S. fisheries, according to a new study.

Even though this number is a 90 percent reduction of turtles accidentally caught and killed since 1990, this may not be enough to sustain turtle populations, according to a study published in Biological Conservation this month, and conducted by Duke University's Project GloBAL and Conservation International.

“It is disgraceful that U.S. fisheries are allowed to kill 4,600 endangered and threatened sea turtles each year – and that is the best case scenario. This estimate also assumes that sea turtle protection measures are being followed in all U.S. fisheries. The actual number of sea turtles killed in U.S. fisheries is likely significantly higher," Oceana, an international advocacy group working to save the world's oceans said in a press release.

One of the authors of the report and Director of Science for Conservation International's marine flagship species program Dr. Bryan Wallace told The Huffington Post that while the reduction of turtles killed in fisheries was promising, more needed to be done to help their recovery.

"One of the problems is that we don't have that magic number that serves as a quota across all fisheries," he said. "Coming up with that number can determine the mortality rate that populations can sustain. Then we can work out how much bycatch is happening in each fishery, and added together, that should be lower than the ceiling set for sustainable numbers."

Bycatch is described by Conservation International as "the accidental capture and injury of marine animals in fishing gear that are not the target catch species."

Wallace said that even on a global scale, fisheries are one of the most serious and acute threats to turtle populations. He used loggerhead turtles as an example, which he said are "the most abundant sea turtle species in the U.S., but have declined 40 percent over the last 20 years."

A press release by Conservation International stated that although the "reductions in sea turtle bycatch are important, it is still unclear whether bycatch has been reduced enough to help sea turtles recover."

To achieve the reduction, the National Marine Fisheries Service implemented regulations for individual fisheries, including dehooking equipment that helps to reduce the severity of injuries to turtles, shrimp trawl nets with turtle excluder devices that allow captured sea turtles to escape, and time-area closures that aim to separate fishing activities and turtles in places and during times when there is likely to be high numbers of turtles.

However, the release says that due to a lack of observer coverage and inconsistent compliance with turtle excluder devices with shrimp trawlers, which account for 98 percent of sea turtle fatalities in the Gulf of Mexico, bycatch estimates may be higher than what the study reported.

Wallace said the tools were in place to save these sea turtles, but commitment to implementing them was needed to be successful in promoting sustainable fisheries.

"If we can address this, then maybe we can get them down to a sustainable level," he said.

An Oceana press release writes: "As few as 21 percent of shrimp trawl vessels are complying with sea turtle protection measures; mortality estimates in this study assume 100 percent compliance. Fishing gear technologies to reduce sea turtle interactions such as turtle excluder devices only save sea turtles when they are used properly."

According to Conservation International, all six sea turtles that are found in the U.S. are currently threatened or endangered on the U.S. Endangered Species List.

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Comments

[singsingsing]

08:28 AM on 09/15/2011

Not too many people know, the Leatherback sea turtle the largest reptile on earth (by weight) is the most endangered sea turtle species. The careless disposal of plastic trash bags and the longline fishing industry have combined to deliver a one-two punch to this creature. 10 years ago, there were about 100k Leatherbacks in the Pacific, as of 2010 that number is about 2300 left. POTUS (an environmental person?) a little over a year ago signed an "executive order" allowing longliners off his home state of Hawaii to take more Leatherbacks as incidental catch. NOT A GOOD IDEA. Leatherbacks are THE principal predator of jellyfish, and when they go extinct in a couple of years NOTHING will be eating the jellies, and jellies eat the babies of EVERYTHING in the ocean. You do the math, what happens then?

[snowballinhell]

12:43 AM on 09/15/2011

You can artificially boost the numbers of hatchlings that grow to adulthood. That is how the Kemp's Ridleys were manipulated by giving them a head start into adulthood:

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_bk_w7000_0013_kemps_ridley_sea_turtle.pdf

If you also remember the turtle project was basically due to the efforts of one woman, South Padre Island's Turtle Lady:

http://theturtleladylegacy.org/

Now the NPS is responsible for protecting the turtles and I seem to remember it was they who marched last year's hatchlings to the Gulf knowing the turtles would swim east into Louisiana waters of Mississippi Canyon. I think it is now obvious who does a better job saving species when other agendas are in play in such a catastrophe.

http://www.nps.gov/pais/naturescience/kridley.htm

[TheSarge]

04:49 PM on 09/14/2011

Using their numbers 4600 killed annually= 46000 in 10 years, most have 2-3 eggs that survive to adults, so we have 46,000-92,000-138,000 total possible numbers of turtles that are actually killed in a decade. And that is with ONLY 1-2 or 3 eggs reaching adulthood. (If all were female of course) but regardless of sex this is a damn disaster.

[Linus521]

03:04 PM on 09/14/2011

One of my life's most profound experiences was witnessing baby sea turtles being released unto the sea, their going home. I cried. We live in a world of miracles, of life and of beauty, taking so much of our Earth for granted, sometimes never seeing the miracle of a life giving Earth and how the rainbow of life creates the images of a living Earth. How all of life is connected irretrievably.

It would appear man sold his specie's soul and the Earth for a few pieces of silver, trashing his only home, killing his fellow traveling companions, treating a miracle like a garbage dump, never realizing his own fate is inextricably connected to the whole and the miracle of a living Earth. Mars and Venus boast of no oceans, no fish and no sea turtles.

[TheSarge]

04:50 PM on 09/14/2011

Its not the silver Linus, its the misconception of dominion.

[Linus521]

06:42 PM on 09/14/2011

You are soooo correct. Now, you are quoting my better half. Perhaps, man was meant to have been the gatekeeper of the Garden and the guardian angel of Holy Creation.

[lambdin1]

01:57 PM on 09/14/2011

One day all marine life will be gone, Then what will these people do? Protecting the sea or the dollar?
The dollar will win all the time!

[Waterphoneman]

12:57 PM on 09/14/2011

Sad for us and for the turtles.

[Blackorpheus]

12:40 PM on 09/14/2011

Stopping killing sea turtles. Be grateful that we share the increasingly contaminated seas with them.

[VoiceofV]

11:28 AM on 09/14/2011

Well at least we are killing less sea turtles than people with for-profit wars, for-profit deregulation and resulting pollution, for-profit pharma-poison, tainted drugs and food, Wallstreet induced poverty . . .

[bpwallace]

10:23 AM on 09/14/2011

RT ekg: Thanks for your insights from NC. That is a good example of effective mitigation of sea turtle bycatch using fisheries-specific measures.

"I, for one, would like for the authors of this report to indicate WHERE all these interactio­ns are occurring and in WHICH SPECIFIC FISHERIES. But, unfortunat­ely, this report seems to be more ideologica­lly driven that scientific­ally--no problem/so­lution identifica­tion."

As a study co-author, I encourage you to read the actual paper we published -- not just a blog online that is reporting on it -- to see for yourself what methods we used and actual results we found. You'll find that we included exhaustive tables of WHERE interactions occurred and in WHICH SPECIFIC FISHERIES. Our study provides a fair and comprehensive assessment of sea turtle bycatch across all US fisheries over a nearly 20 yr period, and, as good conservation science should, makes recommendations for management based on sound conclusions.

Thanks for your interest.
Bryan Wallace

[snowballinhell]

10:37 AM on 09/14/2011

I see an agenda for this article by Oceana as well:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-cohn-rockefeller/endangered-sea-turtles-_b_882060.html

The admitted spike in sea turtle deaths (and dolphins, per NOAA) earlier this year was attributed to shrimpers. But there are far fewer shrimpers this year - and far fewer shrimp. The breeding grounds for shrimp was the area where dispersants were used. So with fewer shrimpers, we have a greater mortality. I think this is beginning to smell like a campaign to shift blame for the ills of the Gulf. I suppose it is really inconvenient that oil has surfaced in the offshore area where DeepwaterHorizon blew out and sank last year. Sure makes making the Gulf whole again more troublesome. What is the reality in the Gulf? Not the one BP or the Coast Guard have been giving us. How is it that we are now to blame shrimpers for all the turtle deaths? TEDs have been used successfully for years. If there is an enforcement issue, Coast Guard, get with it. Otherwise, what's all that oil on the Gulf doing to the ecosystem?

http://www.ecorigs.org/EcoRigsOilSpill.html

[ekg]

11:30 AM on 09/14/2011

Thanks Bryan, going to read it over lunch. Please send me a link if you can, the embedded one in the article isn't working for me for some reason.

PS, you should come down and visit the Karen Beasely Turtle Rescue and Rehab facility if you haven't already--they are one of the prime reasons NC is so turtle friendly.

[bpwallace]

11:52 AM on 09/14/2011

RT ekg: paper can be downloaded here http://ge.tt/8oMMIl7?c

I know Jean and the rehab center. Amazing person and people doing great work.

re: NOAA cuts. These are affecting many aspects of how NOAA does its work, so of course concerning, as many budget cuts are. Hopefully things will turn around.

[ekg]

09:14 AM on 09/14/2011

Sea Turtle conservation efforts are a work in progress, but we have obviously been making great strides. Here in NC we have now had ZERO instances of turtle interactions in our inshore gillnet fisheries in the Pamlico, Currituk, Albemarle and other smaller estuarine waters throughout our coast. This is a great thing because the inshore waters are where these animals spawn and their young grow to the point they are able to enter the open ocean.

I, for one, would like for the authors of this report to indicate WHERE all these interactions are occurring and in WHICH SPECIFIC FISHERIES. But, unfortunately, this report seems to be more ideologically driven that scientifically--no problem/solution identification.

As far as observers, this question must be asked: Why did the corrupt NOAA Fisheries division slash funding in their Observer Program and divert the funds to their enforcement division? Now NOAA is over 90% enforcement with less and less science on which to base their rules and get ACCURATE ASSESSMENTS.
The answer: Dr. Jane Lubchenko, Director previously from PEW. It's all ideologically and politically driven using data that has been proven time and again to be unscientific and incomplete

[Subsoil73]

10:06 AM on 09/14/2011

"It's all ideologica­lly and politicall­y driven using data that has been proven time and again to be unscientif­ic and incomplete"

This statement to could be applied to 95% of all decisions made by our federal government.

[ekg]

11:30 AM on 09/14/2011

Unfortunately so!

[Max Load]

11:19 AM on 09/14/2011

Where's the +1 Interesting button when you need it?

[ekg]

11:31 AM on 09/14/2011

Thanks Max!