Genetic Analysis to Inform Conservation of Loggerhead Sea Turtles

This paper in the journal Fish and Fisheries is the first to look at the nesting beaches of origin for loggerhead sea turtles caught by fishing vessels throughout the northwest Atlantic Ocean. Such patterns are important in helping managers assess which nesting beaches and populations are most threatened in specific areas by bycatch (incidental catch of turtles during fishing operations).

Using genetic analysis, Dr. Kelly Stewart and co-authors traced the origins of loggerheads caught in fishing gear as far north as St. John’s, Canada and as far south as the Caribbean Sea. Loggerheads from all these areas are part of the northwest Atlantic population, which is listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

The researchers found several geographic patterns in the age and nesting beach origin of these turtles. Most were born in Florida, and none in the Mediterranean, South America, or Africa. Furthermore, beaches on the central east coast of Florida contributed most of the small juvenile loggerheads caught north of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Most of those caught south of Cape Hatteras were from southeast Florida.

Click here for the full paper.

Stewart, K.R. et al (2018) Using mixed stock analysis to assess source populations for at-sea bycaught juvienile and adult loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) in the north-west Atlantic. Fish and Fisheries. https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12336.