Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act

What is the Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act?

Although sea turtles are federally protected by the Endangered Species Act, and despite the high costs associated with sea turtle stranding response and rehabilitation, there's inadequate direct federal support available to the many aquariums, zoos and other facilities that rescue and rehabilitate sea turtles. The National Aquarium, New England Aquarium and South Carolina Aquarium—all members of the Aquarium Conservation Partnership—are leading the charge to change that, catalyzing a national effort by dozens of organizations across the country that are working together to encourage Congress to pass the bipartisan Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act. As of April 2024, the bill has passed the House of Representatives and is now moving forward to the Senate for consideration.

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—originally known as the Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance Act (H.R. 2560 / S. 2086)—builds on this momentum by creating a permanent grant program to support organizations responding to and caring for threatened and endangered sea turtles. Passage of this legislation that is supported by dozens of organizations from around the country will allow for more stable and sustainable funding that will ensure 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 a variety of threats caused by human activities—from entanglements in fishing gear and other plastic debris to boat strikes—and cold-stun events, which are increasing because of climate change in some regions. These threats are just some of the reasons why sea turtles can strand on coastlines, which is where the Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network comes in. This network is composed of more than 50 organizations around the country that are permitted to respond to and/or rehabilitate sea turtles, collaborating with each other and with government agency partners to save sea turtles and educate the public about conservation of 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 important work. Just eight of these network partners cared for more than a total of 2,000 sea turtles over a recent two-year period, spending $5 million each of those years to care for rescued sea turtles.

Stranding response and rehabilitation may only be one component of sea turtle conservation, but sustainable funding to support stranding response and rehabilitation is more important than ever in the face of a changing climate that puts 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 gap in federal support for protected species by establishing a federal grant program to provide critical funding directly to organizations that respond to and rehabilitate federally protected, endangered sea turtles. The proposed Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance Grant Program is modeled on an existing grant program for marine mammal stranding response (Prescott Grant Program). Eligible organizations can seek support for marine mammal stranding response and rehabilitation, however a sea turtle rescue grant program does not currently exist. This bill would create one. Specifically, organizations would apply for grants to support:

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