News

The amount of turtles unnecessarily killed by nets in United States fisheries has dropped 90 percent since 1990, estimates a new study from Duke University.

In a report published by Duke University Project Global and Conservation International in Biological Conservation journal, researchers credit efforts made to reduce bycatch over the last 20 in US coastal waters. Although the study estimates 4,600 accidental sea turtle deaths each year, it is a dramatic improvement over pre-bycatch awareness when up to 70,000 turtles fell victim to nets and trawls every year.

"The reduction of bycatch and mortality shows important progress by NMFS, which serves as a model for reducing sea turtle bycatch in other parts of the world," says Elena Finkbeiner, a PhD student at Duke and lead author of the paper. "Our findings show that there are effective tools available for policymakers and fishing industries to reduce sea turtle bycatch, as long as they are implemented properly and consistently."

Finally some good news about efforts to reduce marine bycatch!