Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act

What is the Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act?

Sea turtles are federally protected under the Endangered Species Act, and costs associated with responding to, rescuing and rehabilitating stranded individuals are high. Despite this, direct federal support made available to the many aquariums, zoos and other facilities undertaking this work remains inadequate. The National Aquarium and partners are leading the charge to change that, catalyzing a national effort by dozens of collaborating organizations to encourage Congress to pass the bipartisan Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act.

Many members of Congress have already endorsed calls for funding sea turtle stranding response and rehabilitation in the federal budget. The Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act builds on this momentum by updating an existing federal grant program to also include support for organizations responding to and caring for threatened and endangered sea turtles. Last Congress, the bill received overwhelming bipartisan support, passing the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate Commerce Committee. The bill has been reintroduced in the current 119th Congress. Passage of this legislation, which is supported by dozens of organizations from around the country, will allow for more stable and sustainable funding, thereby ensuring more sea turtles recover and return to their ocean home.

Importance of the Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act

Threatened and endangered sea turtles face various threats caused by human activities—from entanglements in fishing gear and other plastic debris to boat strikes—and cold-stun events, which are increasing due to climate change in some regions. These threats are a few reasons sea turtles can strand on coastlines, where the Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network steps in to rescue them. This network is comprised of over 50 organizations around the country that are permitted to respond to and/or rehabilitate sea turtles. They collaborate with one another and government agency partners to save sea turtles and educate the public about conserving these vulnerable marine animals.

Although maintaining this network is part of every sea turtle species recovery plan, there is inadequate funding available to support this crucial work. A mere eight of these network partners cared for more than 2,000 sea turtles over a recent two-year period, spending $5 million per year to care for the rescued animals. Sea turtle strandings are increasing, and stranding network facilities like ours treat more individuals recovering from injuries, hypothermia, dehydration, pneumonia and other severe ailments. Rehabilitation is time-intensive and costly, often requiring several months before sea turtles recover enough to be released.

Stranding response and rehabilitation are key components of sea turtle conservation, and stranding network partners are committed to continuing to provide expert care. However, our organizations need to be able to access public support as we play this critical role in returning recovered sea turtles to the ocean. Sustainable funding to support stranding response and rehabilitation is more important than ever in the face of a changing climate and other impacts from human activities that put sea turtles further at risk.

Goals of the Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act

The Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act fills a longstanding gap by making sea turtle rescue and rehabilitation work eligible for federal grant support. The existing Prescott Grant Program provides critical funding to organizations for marine mammal stranding response and rehabilitation; however, no similar support exists for sea turtle rescue and rehabilitation work. This bill would address this disparity, ensuring continued funding for marine mammal response while allowing for the new investment needed for sea turtle rescue and rehabilitation. Specifically, permitted organizations could apply for grants to support:

• The recovery, care or treatment of stranded sea turtles.
• Collecting data from stranded sea turtles for scientific research and to understand turtle health better.
• Facility operation costs directly related to caring for stranded sea turtles.