One of the greatest threats facing sea turtles is their deadly interactions with fishing gear. Any student who has volunteered at the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Hospital has seen this first hand. Two new gear devices, aimed at different fisheries, seek to minimize bycatch – allowing fishermen to maintain their livelihoods and sea turtles to maintain their lives.

The first gear change is a new, mandated scallop dredge on the East Coast from New England to North Carolina. Last month, the New England Fishery Management Council called for the implementation of dredges with fewer bars (to keep turtles from getting stuck) and a special deflection device (to keep them from getting into the nets). The changeover must take place by March 2013, though many scallop fishermen are not happy about it. They claim that the new dredges reduce their catch, force them to use more fuel, and are unnecessary since changes implemented five years ago already reduced their bycatch. And they’re expensive – at least $4,000 for a single dredge.

The other gear change is voluntary in nature. An Australian tuna fisherman, Hans Jusseit, has designed a new tuna hook for the longline fishery that comes with a shield to prevent turtles and seabirds from becoming inadvertently hooked and subsequently drowned. This shield of the “smart tunahook” guards the barb and bait until it falls below a certain depth, at which point the shield detaches and falls to the ocean floor. The designer claims that this shield will rust away within a year. The guarded hook only costs 20 cents, but since longline fishing fleets set thousands of hooks on each set, the cost and waste can certainly add up.

For years fishermen have been tracking the tasty treats of the ocean – shrimp, scallops, tuna, etc. – and resulting in billions of tons of bycatch, some of which are endangered and threatened species. While new gear and innovation are always appreciated, it may be time to simply turn down these tasty morsels, starting at your own table.

On September 13th, Jean and volunteers from the hospital and various sea turtle projects throughout southeastern North Carolina helped return 7 turtles that have been in their care at the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Hospital.  Five of the turtles were Kemp’s ridleys and two were green sea turtles. Some of those released were ones that our campers became very familiar with: AJ, Riptide, Mint, Major, Vonda K, Coastline, and Gillis. It was very touching to see all these turtles returned to their natural environment, and the day was summed up well in Jean’s pre-release blessing of this fleet of turtles.

Mother of all Oceans.

Today we return to you these sick and injured sea turtles that have been in our care.

We ask that you send your ocean creatures to greet them and that they show them the way as they return home.

That they look over them and protect them as they enter this world of great danger.

We can make them well, but we cannot submit to the dangers that they will face in our oceans.

Mother Ocean help us to have even greater resolve to respect your world.

To make the habitats for all of the marine creatures safer.

And that as we move forward one of the things that can be written about this generation in the decades to come is that we helped to clean up your oceans.

We ask these blessings.

Amen.

- Jean Beasley at September Sea Turtle Release