North Atlantic Loggerhead Turtles
Endangered Status for Sea Turtle Harmed by Fishing & Climate Change?
Distinct population of loggerheads losing ground to fisheries entanglement in US waters, warmer temperatures and rising sea level. Status change being considered.
The loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) is listed as Endangered by the IUCN. In the United States its status remains as Threatened despite declines of up to 50% in key nesting areas. Endangered status would help ensure that critical habitat is protected in the face of changes that are likely to occur in the face of climate change.
What Climate Change May Mean for Sea Turtles
The loggerhead is not the only sea turtle that may be negatively impacted by climate change. All species of sea turtle would lose important nesting habitat to rising sea levels.
A secondary concern is what the warmer air and water temperatures would mean for reproduction in these species. Like many reptiles, sea turtle sex is largely determined by the temperature. A one degree change in sand temperature at the nesting sites could increase the numbers of females and decrease the numbers of males born.
Finally, with ocean temperatures warming there may be changes in ocean currents. These currents are important travel routes for females returning to nest. Timing of nesting may also be affected by warmer temperatures, as is already happening with some wildlife species.
Fishery Interactions and Loggerhead Sea Turtle Populations
Even without climate change, loggerheads are heavily impacted by all types of fishing-trawls, gillnets, longlines, seines, dredges, pots and traps. The National Marine Fisheries Service and the US Fish and Widlife Service released a joint report on the condition of the North Atlantic loggerhead sea turtle population and concluded that incidental capture in both commercial and artisanal fisheries was the most significant threat to the species.
Protection of Critical Habitat
The NMFS and the USFWS are considering the petition to change the loggerhead sea turtle status from Threatened to Endangered. A key issue in the proposal by Oceana and the Center for Biological Diversity to change the status of these sea turtles is whether the North Altantic loggerheads are a distinct population segment. If they are determined to be a separate subpopulation the protection of critical habitat will be easier to obtain.
That protection is desperately needed as the four major nesting sites for loggerheads along the Atlantic have all seen declines. Worst hit has been the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge where the nesting population has dropped by 50% in the last decade. At Cumberland Island in Georgia, where a new sea turtle hospital has just opened, high rates of turtle strandings, many caused by fisheries interactions continue to be a problem.
Two other areas would be protected as well. The Chesapeake Bay is a key foraging area in summer and fall, as is the Delaware Bay. In the Delaware Bay especially, key foraging season coincides with several major fisheries leading to high bycatch rates.
Ensuring the presence of Loggerhead sea turtles along the Atlantic coast of the United States is possible if action is taken now to protect their nesting and foraging areas. As with the Florida manatee, it will be important to push for the change to Endangered Status.
