December 27, 2019 — A new federal rule aimed at protecting sea turtles from shrimping nets is getting mixed reactions from conservation groups.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has finalized a new rule that requires special metal grates known as TEDs, or turtle excluder devices, in more than 1,000 additional shrimping vessels in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean. The TEDs create an opening in shrimp nets to allow trapped turtles to escape before they drown.
The rule requires all vessels longer than 40 feet to install the special metal grates by April 2021. NOAA estimates the rule will save nearly 1,160 threatened or endangered sea turtles each year along the U.S. coast from Texas to North Carolina. The additional metal grates will also reduce the bycatch of sharks, sturgeon and other fish, NOAA said.
The conservation group Oceana praised the rule as “a step in the right direction.” The rule was developed in response to a 2015 Oceana lawsuit alleging the federal government was violating the Endangered Species Act by failing to monitor the shrimping industry’s impact on sea turtles and set limits on the number of sea turtles that can be killed.