Novel Behavioral Responses of Sea Turtles to Gillnet Fishing Gear
April 16, 2025
By using controlled experiments with wild-caught animals, we provide novel insights on fine-scale behavioral interactions with fishing gear.
Fisheries bycatch, or the incidental capture of non-target organisms, results in high sea turtle mortality and is believed to be a contributor to population declines. Field studies have shown visual stimuli to reduce sea turtle bycatch in gillnets. These studies have focused on bycatch outcomes specific to net-gear modifications and have not explored behavioral mechanisms driving sea turtle entanglement. To study these behaviors, we used wild-caught green and loggerhead turtles in controlled tank experiments.
Reavis JL, Witherington BE, Bresette MJ, Ragan K, Wang JH, Pratt SC, Demir HS, Blain J, Ozev S, DeNardo DF, Senko JF 2025. Novel behavioral responses of sea turtles to gillnet fishing gear Biological Conservation, 306, 111161.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111161