subject: Sea Turtle Stuffed [print this page] Instead of going right for the teddy bear the next time you're looking for a soft toy, why not choose one of the many other types of plush available? A sea turtle stuffed animal, for example, makes a terrific friend and playmate - right on par with a teddy bear - and gives its new human owner the opportunity to become more informed about the real animal it represents. A sea turtle stuffed animal will also be quite grateful for removing it from a toy store shelf or out of an Internet shop.
The state of the sea world population is not a good one thanks to gillnet, trawl, and longline fishing that takes place around the world. It's estimated that the number of sea turtles that have died in the last 20 years because of commercial fishing could well be in the millions.
A new study, published April 6, 2010, used peer-reviewed papers, reports from the government, technical reports, along with published symposia proceedings (1990 to 2008) to analyze sea turtle population data. While the study did not use any data collected from recreational fishing, it relied on direct onboard observations or interviews with fisherman.
Within the seven species of sea turtles, six of them are endangered, vulnerable or critically endangered per the list of the IUCN Red list of Threatened Species. Lead author of the new report, Bryan Wallace (who is the science advisor for the Sea Turtle Flagship Program at Conservation International and an adjunct assistant professor at Duke University) said "Direct onboard observations and interviews with fishermen indicate that about 85,000 turtles were caught between 1990 and 2008. But because these reports cover less than one percent of all fleets, with little or no information from small-scale fisheries around the world, we conservatively estimate that the true total is at least two orders of magnitude higher."
After review of the global data it revealed that the longshore fishing bycatch rate was at its highest off Mexico's Baja California peninsula. That was followed by gillnet fishing in the North Adriatic area of the Mediterranean Sea. And finally, the highest trawl fishing rates took place off the coast of Uruguay. With the combination of rates and amounts of bycatch observed fishing activity, along with the three types of fishing, were all put together and then ranked from region to region, the end result was the discovery of four areas which have the most need for conservation: the Mediterranean, the East Pacific, the Southwest Atlantic, and the Northwest Atlantic.
Turtle bycatching could be greatly reduced if fisherman were to use circle hooks and fish bait when longline fishing and when trawling, and/or if they used Turtle Ecluder Devices (TEDs), which allows a sea turtle the escape if caught in a net. Both longline fishing in Hawaii and prawn fishing in Australia have already reduced their bycatch because fisherman have worked closely with government managers, allowed onboard observers, and have make changes my modifying their gear and using new technologies.
Sea turtle stuffed animals are in no danger of having their populations reduced, nor do they have to worry about being 'caught' in fisherman's nets. Their lives with their human owners is undoubtedly one of leisure, which is as it should be. A sea turtle stuffed animal may go on a few adventures or, it may just remain perched on a bed or shelf waiting for the next time it will be held and snuggled.
