Environmental indicators to reduce loggerhead turtle bycatch offshore of Southern California

•Temperatures at local scales were best able to predict turtle presence.•Temperatures at intermediate and broad spatial scales had lower efficacy.•Capturing the persistence of temperatures was important to predicting turtle presence.•Warm water events independent to El Nino (e.g. “the Blob”) can affect turtle presence.•The indicator successfully balanced fishery opportunity costs and bycatch avoidance.