Trends in fishery-dependent captures of sea turtles in a western North Atlantic foraging region

Although counting nesting females and nests has been widely used to assess sea turtle abundance, surveys of in-water populations can provide a more effective means of measuring the success of recovery actions. Here, the bycatch of turtles recorded in observer data from fishing trips in the Pamlico-Albemarle Estuarine Complex, North Carolina, in 1995−1997, 2001−2003, and 2007−2009 was leveraged to idenitfy changes in species composition and overall abundance throughut the three different fishing periods. A significant increase in loggerhead Caretta caretta captures was detected among the three sampling periods, while the addition of sampling in 2007−2009 revealed significant increases in capture rates of green Chelonia mydas and Kemp’s ridley Lepidochelys kempii sea turtles. Change was also shown from a dominance of loggerheads in the early sampling periods to an equivalent proportion of green and loggerhead sea turtles in 2007−2009. Long-term in-water studies such as this are critical for monitoring trends in sea turtle populations and implementing effective conservation plans.