Commercial fishing has a lot of damage to the sea turtles. The numbers run into millions based on the latest findings. It is first peer-reviewed study to compile sea turtle bycatch data from gillnet, trawl and longline fisheries worldwide. The study analysed data compiled from peer-reviewed papers, government reports, technical reports and symposia proceedings published between 1990 and 2008.
The study revealed that six of the world’s seven species of sea turtles are currently listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Byran Wallace, who led the study, opined that direct onboard observations and interviews with fishermen indicate that about 85,000 turtles were caught between 1990 and 2008.
Wallace also said that these reports are the results of less than one percent of all fleets. The information from small-scale fisheries has not been considered who did much damage. He added that their worldwide data review revealed that the highest reported bycatch rates for longline fisheries occurred off Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, the highest rates for gillnet fishing took place in the North Adriatic region of the Mediterranean and the highest rates for trawls occurred off the coast of Uruguay.
