Sea turtles continue to wash ashore along the Gulf, forcing the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to scramble and figure out what is causing the spike.
"It's crazy that I go out there nearly every day and find them. It makes me mad that NOAA is now trying to blame the shrimp fishermen for killing them in their nets when the shrimp season isn't even open yet and hardly any boats are out there."
Shrimp fishermen feel the same way. They are required to use turtle excluders, devices that allow turtles to escape drowning in shrimp nets. Every year some turtles are killed by fishing boats inadvertently, but shrimpers say to blame them for the recent jump in turtle deaths is hard to believe.
"It's about as ridiculous as anything else I heard during this whole oil spill," said Louisiana Shrimp Association President Clint Guidry. "This time of year shrimp fishermen are fixing their boats and getting ready for the main season that begins in May. I guess they've run out of excuses after saying everything is being killed by dead zones and algae, so now they need to blame us."
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