May 27, 2011 UPDATE – read to the end to download a new Technical Report released by the National Marine Fisheries Service recommending TEDs in skimmer trawls to save sea turtles! A legal loophole deadly to sea turtles allows shallow water shrimp vessels known as skimmer trawls to operate without sea turtle escape hatches, known as Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs). TEDS are required by law on all U.S. commercial shrimp otter trawl boats and on foreign fleets that export shrimp to the U.S. Yet, every year, hundreds of dead sea turtles continue to wash up along Gulf beaches, spiking during the annual opening of shrimping season. The Sea Turtle Restoration Project believes that skimmer trawls may be the culprit and should be required to use TEDs along with the deepwater shrimp fleet. Read the full article |
