March 31, 2021 — New rules designed to keep endangered and threatened sea turtles from drowning in some inshore shrimp nets are being postponed, and federal regulators are considering whether to expand the rules, officials said Tuesday.
Coronavirus pandemic restrictions over the past year have limited in-person workshops and training opportunities for fishermen to install escape hatches called turtle excluder devices, or TEDs, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. Therefore, the new rules announced in 2019 will take effect Aug. 1 instead of on Thursday.
“The delay … is to allow NOAA Fisheries additional time for training fishermen, ensuring TEDs are built and installed properly, and for responding to installation and maintenance problems when the regulations go in effect,” the statement said.
Six species of sea turtles, all of them endangered or threatened, are found in U.S. waters.
The rule requires the devices on skimmer trawls pulled by boats at least 40 feet (12 meters) long.
NOAA Fisheries is reconsidering whether to require the devices on boats shorter than 40 feet long, “and whether additional rulemaking is currently warranted,” the statement said.