View article

Operational longline fishery characteristics, bycatch information, and loggerhead turtle satellite tracks were all used in conjunction with remotely sensed sea surface temperature data to identify the environmental area where the majority of loggerhead turtle bycatch occurred in the Hawaii-based longline fishery during 1994 to 2006. In the first quarter of each calendar year from 1994 to 2006, the majority of shallow longline sets and associated loggerhead turtle bycatch were above 28 N, which corresponds to the area near the North Pacific Subtropical Frontal Zone. Based on the thermal ranges of bycatch, sets and the satellite-tagged turtles, it was recommended that shallow sets should only be deployed in waters south of the 18.5 C (~ 65.5 F) isotherm to decrease loggerhead turtle bycatch. This recommendation formed the basis for the TurtleWatch tool, a map providing up-to-date information about the thermal …