Fishermen Interviews: A Cost-Effective Tool for Evaluating the Impact of Fisheries on Vulnerable Sea Turtles in Tunisia and Identifying Levers of Mitigation

Fisheries bycatch is considered one of the main threats to sea turtles. To provide an updated assessment of the bycatch impact on loggerhead turtles in Tunisia, 483 interviews were conducted with fishermen in 19 ports along the Gulfs of Gabes and Hammamet. The interview questions included data on vessel and fishing gear characteristics, monthly fishing effort, and monthly sea turtle bycatch of the last year. Results revealed that sea turtle bycatch per unit effort (BPUE) was the highest for ray nets (0.73 turtles/vessel/day, 95% CI [0.02-1.15]), followed by pelagic longlines (0.6 turtles/vessel/day, 95% CI [0-4.23]) and shark nets (0.4 turtles/vessel/day, 95% CI [0-2.12]). However, due to the trawlers' high fishing effort, the cumulative impact of the trawl nets was the highest with an estimated number of 11,740 (95% CI [0-41,525.75]) turtles caught per year in Tunisia. Factors influencing the bycatch risk were gear characteristics (mesh size for nets, hook size for longlines, vertical opening for trawls), as well as season and location of operations. These factors will guide the research of mitigation solutions. The interviews with fishermen proved to be a cost-effective approach for the rapid assessment of sea turtle interactions with fisheries in the context of Tunisia.