U.S. Laws Protecting Sea Turtles
All sea turtles that swim in U.S. waters are threatened by human activities ranging from fisheries interactions, beach development and renourishment, pollution, among other things. There are two U.S. laws which address some of these impacts to sea turtles.

Endangered Species Act
All sea turtles that swim in the waters of the United States are either listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The Endangered Species Act is the principal law protecting sea turtles. Under this law, the government is required to provide for the conservation of sea turtles in the ocean and on their nesting beaches. Not only must the government protect existing sea turtles, but also it must ensure that human actions do not impact the recovery of sea turtle populations.

In the case of commercial fisheries, the National Marine Fisheries Service issues Incidental Take Statements to allow for fishing activity while ensuring that the interactions with sea turtles do not jeopardize the health or recovery of turtle populations. The government is also required to look at the cumulative effects of all permitted actions on populations of threatened or endangered sea turtles.

Magnuson-Stevens Act
The Magnuson-Stevens Act governs the management and conservation of all commercial fisheries in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which extends from 3 to 200 miles from shore, and provides that, "conservation and management measures must, to the extent practicable, minimize bycatch, and to the extent that bycatch cannot be avoided, minimize bycatch mortality."

The Magnuson-Stevens Act defines bycatch as all forms of marine animal and plant life other than marine mammals and birds which are harvested in a fishery, but which are not sold or kept for personal use, and includes economic discards and regulatory discards. Unfortunately, the majority of the U.S. fishery management plans do not account for sea turtle bycatch or include measures to reduce interactions with turtles.