Green Sea Turtles

Green sea turtles are the largest species of hard-shelled turtle normally found in tropical and subtropical waters around the globe.   The principal cause of the historical, worldwide decline of the green turtle is long-term harvest of eggs and adults on nesting beaches and juveniles and adults on feeding grounds. These harvests are cultural and continue in some areas of the world, compromising the efforts made to recover this species.  Incidental capture in fishing gear, primarily in gillnets, but also in trawls, continues to decrease the numbers of wild turtles inhabiting our oceans.