Guidelines to Reduce Sea Turtle Mortality in Fishing Operations

Sea turtles are affected by a range of different factors, some natural and others caused by human activities, including fishing operation. As a result, all sea turtles species whose conservation status has been assessed are considered to be threatened or endangered. These guidelines provide assistance for the preparation of national or multilateral fisheries management measures and industry initiatives that may help to conserve sea turtles by reducing the negative impacts that fisheries may have on them. They present our best understanding of how to reduce the proportion of caught turtles that are killed as a result of interactions with marine capture fisheries. These guidelines include information about how to change fishing gear and fishing methods and how the fishing industry can adopt voluntary approaches to reduce sea turtle mortality.