Image of the Day: Fishermen Reduce Seaturtle Death By Changing Bait

Every year more than 20,000 loggerhead sea turtles are accidentally caught on the hooks of longlines used for catching swordfish off the southern coast of Spain.

A new study suggests that turtle mortality could be reduced by as much as 80 percent if fishermen bait their hooks with mackerel and fish at slightly deeper depths.

The researchers spent 30 days working with local fisherman onboard a longline fishing vessel, where they conducted 15 experiments using a normal long line with forty baited hooks. When the fisherman substituted their traditional squid bait for mackerel and fished the hooks slightly deeper, they caught the same number of swordfish but far less seaturtles.

The study was performed by Ricardo Sagarminaga van Buiten of the Spanish Cetacean Society and Ana Cañadas of Alnitak and University Autónoma of Madrid; it was supported by the volunteer organization, Earthwatch Institute.

--Ker Than

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Credit:  Mark Eveleigh