The Importance of Sea Turtle Stranding and Bycatch Study in Taiwan

Coastal sea turtle stranding and fisheries bycatch is a common phenomenon worldwide and a burning issue in marine conservation. The habitat diversity in the nearshore waters of Taiwan is very high. Thus, the marine biodiversity is also high, and attract all five species of sea turtle to live or forage there. The nearshore waters also receive tons of anthropogenic debris from both land and sea, result in many sea turtles stranded each year. In addition, the coastal fisheries also bycatch many sea turtles. These information is very important for the coastal management, and receive little attention. This is the first long-term study of sea turtle stranding and fisheries bycatch in Taiwan. It also provides important demographic information such as species composition, spatial and temporal distribution etc. in the nearshore waters of Taiwan.

Read the full article, published by Zoological Studies, here

Follow Zoological Studies on Twitter @ZooStudies and Facebook