AdrioNet rescued 483 sea turtles between the Adriatic and Ionian Sea

483 of the 682 sea turtles recovered during 2020 were alive, and more than 400 have already been cured and released into the sea. These are the numbers presented by Adrionet, the Adriatic-Ionian Network of coordination between the Marine Turtle Recovery Centers born last year.

Adrionet is the Adriatic-Ionian network of coordination between 6 Marine Turtle Recovery Centres: Centro Studi Cetacei, Crtm 'Luigi Cagnolaro' di Pescara; Museo di Storia Naturale del Salento di Calimera; Fondazione Cetacea, centro di Rimini/Riccione; Oasi Wwf di Policoro; Area Marina Protetta di Torre Guaceto; Wwf Molfetta. It also includes professionals involved in scientific and/ or operational issues related to the recovery of turtles: currently these figures represent the Societas Herpetologica Italica, the CNR-Irbim Ancona, the Istituto Zooprofilattico di Teramo and the universities of Bari, Pisa and Foggia.

In 2020, 682 sea turtles were found. The vast majority of them belong to the species Caretta caretta: 681 individuals against a single green turtle, Chelonia mydas, cured and released in excellent condition. Among the 483 subjects recovered alive (more than 400 of which cured and released into the sea already in the course of 2020) 381 (79%) had unequivocal signs of contact with human activities, direct fishing or so-called ghost nets, which are nets that for various reasons (bad weather, accidents, even intentionally) are abandoned in the seabed.

In addition to the many turtles object of bycatch (accidental capture), including dozens of young subjects, about twenty individuals showed the presence of hooks and sometimes lines, removed by surgery, while some subjects had ingested plastic (even a balloon with its thread) or showed signs of collision with boats or fishing gear.

Experts from the Adrionet network also intervened on 199 dead animals: biometric surveys were carried out on all carcasses and, where possible, necropsy examinations were prepared for the determination of causes of death.

During 2020 Adrionet also monitored 16 nests with hundreds of baby turtles born and arrived at sea with constant monitoring of volunteers.

objective

reduction of sea turtle mortality in the professional fishing

project in brief

The conservation of Caretta caretta, a priority species included in App. II/IV of the Habitat Directive and protected in various international Conventions, has been representing a strategic issue for the whole Mediterranean basin, with professional fishing being the main threat for the survival of marine turtles: every year about 130000 turtles can be accidentally caught accidentally in the Mediterranean.

The project TartaLife, involving all 15 Italian regions overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, aims at reducing:
- bycatches caused by pelagic longline, bottom trawl and fixed nets by disseminating technical innovations of the fishing gears;
- post-capture mortality through trainings for fishermen and strengthening the marine turtles First Aid/Rescue Centres

TartaLife project

Life+ programme

The LIFE programme is the EU’s funding instrument for the environment. The general objective of LIFE is to contribute to the implementation, updating and development of EU environmental policy and legislation by co-financing pilot or demonstration projects with European added value.

LIFE began in 1992 and to date there have been four complete phases of the programme (LIFE I: 1992-1995, LIFE II: 1996-1999, LIFE III: 2000-2006 and LIFE+: 2007-2013). During this period, LIFE has co-financed some 3954 projects across the EU, contributing approximately €3.1 billion to the protection of the environment.

Life+ programme