The Sea Turtle Fishing Paradox
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The trade in all species of sea turtles for commercial purposes was universally prohibited in 1974 under the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Nonetheless, sea turtles were considered locally extinct in parts of the Caribbean in the 1980s. This article demonstrates that the use of sea turtle specimens may induce severe adverse health hazards, which contradicts the universal human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. While the International Panel on Climate Change Assessment Report 6 Working Group II report, acting as a framework for national and international biodiversity conservation actions, warned that ‘there is a rapidly narrowing window of opportunity to enable climate resilient development,’ sea turtle fishing seems to further deplete oceans of their keystone species, amplifying the impacts of climate change oceanic stressors. A One Health approach towards sea turtle species and their blue carbon ecosystems conservation, inclusive of the Rights of Nature, can lead towards enhanced climate change risks mitigation actions.
Author: Claire Saladin Carchidi
Language: English
Subfield: Nature and Landscape Conservation
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7172500727