Madrid/Washington/Santiago de Chile ﾖ Oceana, the first international organisation dedicated to the research, protection and recovery of the oceans, has initiated an international campaign to reduce accidental catches of sea turtles at both ends of their area of distribution: the American coasts and the Mediterranean. On both sides of the Atlantic, whether on the coasts of Florida, where they are born, or the calm waters of the Mediterranean Sea, to which they emigrate, thousands of sea turtles are caught on the hooks of longline fleets dedicated to catching swordfish and tuna. ﾠ
Every year, more than 400,000 sea turtles are caught around the world (between 200,000 and 316,000 loggerhead turtles and between 50,000 and 114,000 leatherback turtles). Sixty per cent of these catches are made in the Atlantic and 10% in the Mediterranean. This is one of the reasons that have led Oceana to coordinate the efforts of its offices in Europe, North America and South America to contain the high mortality levels of sea turtles. According to estimates made in the United States, some 2,000 turtles are caught each year(60% of which are loggerheads and 40% leatherbacks), while in the Mediterranean, just by the Spanish fishing fleet operating in this area alone – mainly out of the ports of Alicante, Murcia, Almeria and Mallorca – the figure could be more than 20,000 animals a year. Added to this are the high numbers of accidental catches made by other fleets during the turtlesﾴ migratory travels.
A team of biologists and divers from Oceana has documented in videos and photographs the fishing activities on board a typical longliner from south-east Spain, with a particular emphasis on the accidental catches of sea turtles.
On board the fishing vessel, the Oceana team tried not to disturb the normal routine of the boat, its habits or fishing operations. At the same time, they undertook the marking of turtles in order to contribute to studies on migrations, and the biologists also tested an instrument known as a ﾓdehookerﾒ to extract hooks from the turtles without causing injury before releasing them back to the sea.
Five of the eight species of sea turtles in the world have been observed on the Mediterranean coasts: the hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys inbricata), the Kempﾴs Ridley turtle (Lepidochelys kempi), the leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) and the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta). The majority of this last species are born in the western Atlantic (on the beaches of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, amongst others), and some in the Eastern Mediterranean (particularly in Greece, Turkey and Cyprus).
Many of these turtles are born on the beaches of Florida and the Caribbean.
ﾠThose that manage to evade the fishermen operating in this area end up as victims of the thousands of kilometres of hooks stretching along the Mediterranean coast.
Oceana
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Oceana campaigns to protect and restore the worldﾒs oceans. Our teams of marine scientists, economists, lawyers and advocates win specific and concrete policy changes to reduce pollution and to prevent the irreversible collapse of fish populations, marine mammals and other sea life. Global in scope and dedicated to conservation, Oceana has campaigners based in Europe (Madrid, Spain; Brussels, Belgium), North America (Washington, DC; Juneau, AK; Los Angeles, CA), and South America (Santiago, Chile). More than 200,000 members and e-activists in over 150 countries have already joined Oceana. For more information, please visit www.Oceana.org
