The recovery of endangered sea turtles worldwide is in full effect. According to a new study, the threats such as hunting, pollution, coastal development and climate change to the populations of sea turtles are overall in decline.
Of the 48 populations studied, the sea turtle population in the Atlantic Ocean are recovering better than those in the Pacific Ocean, while leatherback turtles are showing the slowest recovery.
“Many of the turtle populations have come back, though some haven’t,” Stuart Pimm, researchers and Duke ecologist, said. “Overall, the sea turtle story is one of the real conservation success stories.”
The study, which was published in the journal Endangered Species Research, is the first update of sea turtle recovery in more than a decade.
Sea turtles were granted protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act of 1973, while Mexico “banned all captures of sea turtles in 1990,” according to AP News. The recovery is the result of decades of conservation efforts including the protection of nesting beaches and reduction of accidental bycatch in fishing, Michelle María Early Capistrán, co-author of the study and a Stanford University researcher said.
“By ending commercial harvests and allowing them time to rebound, their populations are now doing really well,” Capistrán said about green turtles in the U.S. and Mexico.
While green sea turtles are still listed as endangered, the study found that their recovery has increased in many regions worldwide.
Fishing gear still remains a major threat to sea turtles who become entangled, Bryan Wallace, study co-author and a wildlife ecologist at Ecolibrium in Colorado, said, but new technologies being developed to help protect the marine animals from this threat need to be accepted and used regularly by fishing communities to be effective.
COMMENTS