Loggerhead sea turtles on decline in SC

Sept. 25, 2007

The number of loggerhead sea turtles nesting along the South Carolina coast declined by 3 percent this summer, researchers say.

About 1,500 nests were found along the state's sandy beaches this year, said Dubose Griffin, sea turtle program coordinator for the state Department of Natural Resources.

The turtles, which can weigh 300 pounds, are a threatened species whose numbers were climbing a decade ago. But a recent federal study suggests loggerheads are being lost in the nets of fishermen in international waters.

According to the report, the number of nests in the Gulf of Mexico dropped about 7 percent while the figure declined 2 percent in North Carolina. Fisheries are the "most significant man-made factor affecting the conservation and recovery of the loggerhead," the report said.

The problem is growing because the demand for seafood is increasing, there are more fishing boats from developing countries and fishermen must travel farther from shore to find fish, said Barbara Schroeder, the sea turtle coordinator for the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The Southeast and the Middle East are the two major loggerhead nesting areas in the world.

Off the South Carolina coast, fishermen have taken some measures to protect the turtles, and there are fewer commercial fishing boats and shrimp trawlers than in past years, officials said.

"It's something we have pretty well straightened out ourselves with circle hooks, turtle excluder devices and observers on boats continually to check the results, and the rest of the world has not," said Frank Blum, the director of the South Carolina Seafood Alliance director and a commercial fisherman.

Another threat to loggerheads is being struck by boats, said Kelly Thorvalson, the coordinator of the sea turtle rescue program at the South Carolina Aquarium.

The turtles live at sea and so scientists use nesting numbers to estimate the turtle population.

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Information from: The Post and Courier, http://www.charleston.net