Review of sea-turtle bycatch data in the ICCAT convention area obtained through Japanese scientific observer program

The document reviewed the historical information on the incidental catch of sea turtle by the Japanese pelagic longline fisheries within the ICCAT convention area collected by the Japanese scientific observers. A total of 681 sea turtles were caught with the 28millionhooks of eleven thousand fishing operations observed from 1997 to 2015. The most common species occurred was leatherback (N=312, 45.8%), followed by loggerhead (N=144, 21.1%), and olive ridley (N=76, 11.2%). Species of 149 individuals were unidentified, accounting for 21.9% of total sea turtle bycatch observed. Most of the turtles were caught in the tropical to temperate Atlantic (10 degrees S to 25 degrees N, area 2) and northern Atlantic(North of 25 degrees N, area 1). In the areas 1 and 2, leatherback was the most common species, while olive ridley was the most common in the Southern area (10 degrees S to 35 degrees S, area 3). No turtle was recorded from far southern area (South of 35 degrees S, area 4).