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DISCUSSION

Sea turtles that were found stranded along the South Texas coast were significantly affected by ingestion of, and to a lesser extent, by entanglement in marine debris. All species found in the area, both male and female, juvenile, subadult and adult were found to have become entangled in or ingested marine debris during almost every month of the year.

Commercial and recreational fishermen and their discarded gear were responsible for the majority of the entanglement incidents. The number of entanglement cases is probably underestimated because quite often commercial and recreational fishermen are reluctant to report these incidents. One interesting note is that all of the turtles caught in shrimp trawls during this study were recovered alive and eventually were released. All had been turned in by the shrimpers who had caught them.