The problem

According to the report “ Sea Turtles on the Hook ” that Oceana has recently presented, these fleets use some 3.8 million hooks each day, which adds up to 1,400 million hooks a year. Two hundred million of these are aimed at catching swordfish, and 1,200 million at catching tuna. Thirty-seven per cent of this huge fishing effort is focused on the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. It is also estimated that for every thousand hooks set, 14 loggerhead turtles ( Caretta caretta ) and 2.4 leatherback turtles ( Dermochelys coriacea ) may be caught. 
  
Various researchers have estimated that the Spanish longline fleet involuntarily catches between 15,000 and 30,000 turtles. The figure regarded as an average estimate is 20,000 animals.