Setting Incidental Take Limits for Marine Turtles in US Fisheries

OVERVIEW

GRANT AWARDED: September 2009. Accidental catch of endangered and threatened sea turtles in marine fisheries poses one of the most serious conservation threats to marine turtles worldwide. To date, managers do not have a scientific framework for establishing how many turtles from a population can be caught without jeopardizing the recovery of the species. This project develops a scientific method for evaluating the cumulative impacts of marine fisheries on sea turtles and for establishing science-based sustainable catch limits under the Endangered Species Act.

Publications and Reports:

Moore, J.E. et al. 2013. Evaluating sustainability of fisheries bycatch mortality for marine megafauna: a review of conservation reference points for data-limited populations. doi:10.1017/S037689291300012X

Link to abstract
May, 2013

Curtis, K. A. and Moore, J. E. (2013), Calculating reference points for anthropogenic mortality of marine turtles. Aquatic Conserv: Mar. Freshw. Ecosyst.. doi: 10.1002/aqc.2308

Link to abstract
January, 2013