An edited version of the following article was featured in Hooked Magazine, a local fisherman's publication.
Sea turtles are crucial to
healthy fish populations! Green sea turtles are one of the only marine animals
that eats sea grass, which needs to be constantly cut to stay healthy. Sea
grass beds are important because they provide a place for many species of fish
to grow and breed. Without these healthy beds, many fish would go
extinct-creating ripple effects across the entire ocean ecosystem. Next time you
catch a fish that is alive due to a healthy sea grass bed, you should thank a
sea turtle! The best way to thank a sea turtle is to be proactive at avoiding
sea turtle injury while fishing!
You
probably already know that sea turtles can get caught in fishing equipment and
injure themselves. Here are 7 ways to avoid catching these endangered species:
1)
If you see lots of sea turtles in an area, be
careful! Avoid the area if possible. If you need to fish in the area, try
reeling up your bait often to see if you’ve accidentally caught a sea turtle.
If a sea turtle nibbles on your bait, but you have not caught it, try recasting
your fishing gear in the opposite direction of the sea turtle. Sea turtles are
almost always foraging near the jetties, so please be especially careful if
fishing in this area!
2)
Use barbless circle hooks instead of “J” hooks.
Sea turtles can more easily remove themselves from circle hooks, which limits
the injuries associated with them. You can use a wrench to make your own
barbless circle hooks out of “J” hooks!
3)
If possible, attach UltraViolet LED lights to
your fishing nets. Sea turtles can see UV light, but fish cannot. These lights
help to make the nets more visible to sea turtles, allowing them to avoid them
more easily. This will also prevent sea turtle’s from damaging your nets!
4)
Try using live bait to attract less sea turtles.
Sea turtles love stinky foods, and live bait tends to not smell as bad!
5)
Try using fish as bait instead of squid. A
United Nations publication states that sea turtles are likely to take bites of
fish, while they are likely to eat squid whole. If a sea turtle nibbles at your
bait, you can recast your fishing gear. You may not get that opportunity with
squid.
6)
When you’re cleaning your fish, make sure you’re
not accidentally feeding sea turtles in the ocean. Sea turtles that associate
people with food are more likely to be incidentally captured.
7)
Never leave fishing gear unattended or laying on
a dock, where it could be washed or blown into the ocean. Always pick up all
your fishing gear when you leave a fishing area. Cut up discarded fishing line
so that it cannot entangle an animal if it ends up in the ocean, and make sure
to properly discard it in a trashcan!
If you do accidentally catch a sea
turtle on the island, try to bring the turtle close to you so you can help it.
Do not drag the turtle up a cliff, but pull him in laterally instead so that
you don’t worsen any injuries your net or hook has caused. If you cannot pull
the sea turtle in, cut the fishing line as close to the sea turtle as possible.
We then ask that you please call Sea Turtle, Inc at (956) 761- 4511. You can
call 911 on South Padre Island to be connected with us if you don’t remember
our number. Our staff will let you know what to do next!
If a sea turtle has been hooked in
the jaw or caught in a net, we may just ask for you to follow our instructions
and remove as much fishing gear from the animal as possible before releasing
them. If the sea turtle is more seriously injured, or has swallowed a hook, it
will need special care and we may ask you to please stay with the turtle until
help arrives. Please remember that sea turtles are very strong and that they
bite! Ask for help if you need it! The safety of yourself and the sea turtle is
very important to us! Even if you’re unable to call Sea Turtle, Inc. immediately
or reel in the captured sea turtle, knowing that a sea turtle has been captured,
and in what area, provides us with valuable data and will help us to find the
sea turtle if it strands later.
Following these simple steps may go a long way toward protecting sea turtles! These prehistoric animals appreciate your consideration, and if each of us does our best to avoid hurting them when we fish, we can fish knowing sea turtles and the fish they help will be around for generations.
Following these simple steps may go a long way toward protecting sea turtles! These prehistoric animals appreciate your consideration, and if each of us does our best to avoid hurting them when we fish, we can fish knowing sea turtles and the fish they help will be around for generations.
