Money could be earned hunting and selling sea turtles. Money could be earned selling things made from turtles. Turtle hunting became profitable. So hunters took hundreds of turtles in the sea and even on the land, when they were nesting. Fewer and fewer sea turtles were left until they were almost all gone.
Laws now protect sea turtles and forbid trade in turtle products.
But not everyone obeys these laws. Trawlers and Turtles Commercial fishing boats around the world provide food from the sea for people. These vessels cruise coastal waters, dragging large nets along the sea bottom to gather in their catch. Trawling or scraping of the sea bottom is very detrimental to sea life in general because it destroys the breeding grounds of fish, shrimp and all marine life. Unfortunately, sea turtles are often caught accidentally in these nets.