A new national report on commercial fishing bycatch released by NOAA Fisheries states that at least 11,772 sea turtles were seriously injured or killed by U.S. fisheries in 2005. And of all the fishing operations, Gulf of Mexico shrimpers had the worst bycatch ratio.
The report estimates the Gulf fishing ratio was 76 percent, which means for every pound of shrimp caught, three pounds of other marine life, such as sea turtles or juvenile fishes, are caught and possibly killed.
Sea turtles were the hardest hit of all non-fish species as bycatch, said Chris Pincetich, a marine biologist with the Sea Turtle Restoration Project in California.
U.S. fisheries killed or seriously injured 11,772 sea turtles, 1,887 marine mammals, and 7,669 seabirds in 2005, Pincetich said, quoting the 500-page report.
Southeast fisheries, lead by the Gulf of Mexico shrimp trawl fishery, were responsible for 10,671 of the total sea turtles killed or seriously injured. Loggerheads were most impacted, representing 53 percent or 6,281 of the sea turtles, followed by the endangered Kemp’s ridley at 36 percent or 4,222. Loggerheads in the Pacific are now an endangered species.