Proceedings of the International Technical Expert Workshop on Marine Turtle Bycatch in Longline Fisheries Seattle, Washington

Marine turtles are a global resource and their populations are impacted by numerous anthropogenic activities including degradation of nesting and foraging habitats, illegal poaching, overharvest of eggs, and incidental capture in commercial and artisanal fisheries. It is widely recognized that fisheries interactions comprise a significant threat to sea turtle populations. Among fisheries that incidentally capture sea turtles, certain types of trawl, gillnet, and longline fisheries generally pose the greatest threat. This Workshop focused on incidental capture of sea turtles in longline fisheries. The goal was to bring together academic, technical, and scientific expertise to discuss, develop and recommend actions to address global incidental capture in longline fisheries with the hope that implementation of these actions, where applicable, might reduce this particular threat.