Fishing lights lure turtles to their death

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., May 4 (UPI) -- North Carolina researchers say glowing light sticks may be the reason thousands of loggerhead turtles die in commercial fishing lines.

The lights, which are meant to attract tuna or swordfish, are apparently luring the turtles too, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said Friday in a release.

The light sticks, which resemble disposable plastic tubes used by children at Halloween, are used to draw fish to baited hooks.

"Juvenile turtles are indiscriminate eaters and bite nearly everything small that they encounter," senior author Ken Lohmann said. "Under natural conditions, most small objects floating or swimming through the sea are potential sources of food. But nowadays, with fishing lines, plastic, and garbage in the ocean, biting everything is not such a great strategy."

The researchers said the findings, published in the journal Animal Conservation, may help fisheries decrease the number of turtles caught on lines.

A recent estimate published in the journal Ecology Letters suggested 200,000 loggerhead and 50,000 leatherback turtles may die each year in commercial fishery longlines, the university said.