The Importance Of Sea Turtles

Register to read the introduction… Most of these countries prohibit taking eggs but the enforcement is not strong enough. Sea turtles are killed for meat and also sold for jewelry in these countries. In the Gulf of Mexico and West Atlantic coast there are a large number of sea turtles, but there is also a ton of commercial fishing occurring in those areas. With that said there are thousands of sea turtles getting caught in fishing nets every year. This is probably the number one cause for sea turtle deaths world wide. The United States acted on this though, by creating Turtle Excluder Devices. These devices work by only allowing small creatures through the net and larger creatures end up hitting bars and are basically ejected from the entrapment. In the United States these devices are required on every shrimp boat, but sadly not all fishermen follow the law and sea turtles continue to die from …show more content…
Laws and agreements are going to need to be made and not only organizations but individuals need to make a difference. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species already controls international trade in endangered and threatened species. All countries that have signed under this treaty protect these endangered sea turtles. State and local governments are passing regulations that are protecting the turtles nesting areas on beaches. There are many goals that people trying to protect these creatures are trying to accomplish. Cracking down on illegal international trade for sea turtles is something that really needs improvement. If it was made clear that people can not get away with trading sea turtles then people would cut down on doing so, from fear of getting caught. Making sure fishers used the Turtle Excluder Device would greatly cut down on sea turtle deaths. More established parks on beaches would help the sea turtles nest in a safer environment allowing the hatchlings to have a greater chance of survival. Eliminating the disturbances that are caused by humans on the coast would really benefit the turtle's chances of survival. Enforcing national and international laws to help prevent the dumping of waste into our ocean waters would also help the turtles. Polluting waters is not only harmful to the turtles but to every marine species and should be taken into consideration by every human being. The ocean is a beautiful thing and it is sad that people pollute it the way that they do. Lastly, increasing public awareness about how threatened and endangered these creatures are becoming. There needs to be more community participation throughout the United States and also the rest of the world. Sadly that is not an easy task as there are so many people that are unaware of this problem, and some don't even