Impact of the bycatch of loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) in and around the Ebro Delta on nesting populations in the Atlantic and Mediterranean

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Main researcher: Lluís Cardona (Barcelona University)

Description: Around the world, fishing is the main threat to the conservation of the loggerhead turtle and particularly in the western Mediterranean since the main techniques used in this area are surface longline and trawling. In this region, there is a mix of young individuals from different populations of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, and it is not known how these populations are affected by bycatch. Therefore this project aims to assess the impact of bycatch of these animals with the techniques of surface longline and trawling in the area of the Ebro Delta.

To achieve this objective, genetic markers (mtDNA and microsatellite) will be used that enable individual turtles caught by each fishing technique to be assigned to their population of origin (the United States, Cape Verde and the eastern Mediterranean) and thus detect which populations are affected and to what extent.

The funding of the National R&D Biodiversity Plan will enable the origin to be determined of turtles captured by the Spanish fishing fleet across all of its Mediterranean fishing grounds. Barcelona Zoo’s research and conservation programme will enable the study to be extended to the turtles caught by trawling, which occurs mainly in southern Catalonia and northern Valencia. It will therefore complete the study into the vulnerability of the loggerhead turtle in the face of the two techniques that cause the greatest number of bycatches in our waters and determine which populations are most affected.

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