recently discovered hibernation of turtles in the soft mud sides of the 

 channel (Carr et al., 1980). It has been mentioned that hibernation has 

 been rumored but not documented elsewhere. It is unknown whether shellfish 

 dredges have the potential to distrub or kill such turtles if they exist. 



SUMMARY, DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 



In summary, there is at least hearsay indication of conflict between 

 turtles and all the major classes of fishing gear. Yet, aside from the 

 shrimping industry, these conflicts have been clearly documented in only a 

 few situations. There is even less evidence available on mortality rates. 

 Nevertheless some conclusions can be made. 



There is a clear conflict between turtles and large-meshed gill nets. 

 This has been documented with sturgeon nets in North and South Carolina, 

 squid drift nets in the Pacific Ocean, and the leaders to certain pound 

 nets in Virginia. 



The relatively new offshore longline fishery for tuna and billfish 

 (swordfish, etc.) may pose a significant threat. As noted, George Balazs 

 is preparing an annotated bibliography on longline/turtle conflicts and the 

 South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is preparing a biological 

 assessment of this situation in the swordfish industry. 



There are several other situations that need investigation. Is the 

 November/December mortality off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina due to the 

 winter trawl fishery for bottom fish, the recent switch to gill nets in the 

 king mackerel fishery, or is this unrelated to fishing? Could this be a 

 natural biological phenomenon such as cold stunning? Why are turtles 

 present here at this time of year? Menhaden purse seines were implicated 

 by many, but no documentation was found. Is this an oversight? 



Several other conclusions can be made from this study. Fishery trends 

 are dynamic. As the world demand for fish and energy costs increase, new 

 equipment and even new fisheries are being introduced. This is illustrated 

 clearly in a North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries report entitled 

 Trends in North Carolina's Commercial Fisheries, 1965-1980 (Street, 1981). 

 Balazs (1982) notes the squid driftnet fishery only started in 1979. The 

 Japanese longline fishery off Texas is also very recent. The North 

 Carolina gill net take for king mackerel increased from pounds in 1978 to 

 124,800 pounds in 1981 and there is a growing pound net fishery in the 

 Pamlico Sound in North Carolina (Street, pers. comm.). George Henderson 

 (pers. comm.) mentioned a new deep-water roller-trawl fishery off Georgia. 

 If turtles are overwintering in the offshore reefs there (Richardson, pers. 

 comm.), they may be affected by this gear. 



In addition to being innovative, approaches to sea turtle/fisheries 

 conflicts will have to be flexible. As Lutcavage suggested, monitoring 



