Louisiana- Include Device to Protect Endangered Turtles
Turtle Excluder Devices, (TED's), allow turtles to escape fishermen's fine meshed nets while bottom trawling with commerical shrimp fishing vessels. The device prevents turtles from becoming trapped and unable to surface- thus drowning since turtles have lungs and are air-breathing.
The United States required all trawling shrimp boats to equip their nets with TED's in 1987, however, in June of 2010, the State of Louisiana prohibited its marine enforcement officers from enforcing TED and tow time limits claiming there is little proof that shrimping is a significant cause of turtle deaths.
The loggerhead, green, Kemp's ridley, hawksbill and leatherback sea turtles are all protected under the Endangered Species Act and all five inhabit the Gulf of Mexico. It is estimated that Louisiana captures 17,000 sea turtles and 1000 drown because they cannot escape the net, and trawling times last as long as 2 and 1/2 hours, when turtles can only for about an hour underwater without air.
We ask Louisiana to do the correct thing for the endangered turtles and equip all trawling shrimp boat nets with Turtle Excluder Devices.
SOURCE: http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2013/02/federal_fisheries_official_tel.html
Turtle Excluder Devices, (TED's), allow turtles to escape fishermen's fine meshed nets while bottem trawling with commerical shrimp fishing vessels. The device prevents turtles from becoming trapped and unable to surface- thus drowning since turtles have lungs and are air-breathing.
The United States required all trawling shrimp boats to equip their nets with TED's in 1987, however, in June of 2010, the State of Louisiana prohibited its marine enforcement officers from enforcing TED and tow time limits claiming there is little proof that shrimping is a significant cause of turtle deaths.
The loggerhead, green, Kemp's ridley, hawksbill and leatherback sea turtles are all protected under the Endangered Species Act and all five inhabit the Gulf of Mexico. It is estimated that Louisiana captures 17,000 sea turtles and 1000 drown because they cannot escape the net, and trawling times last as long as 2 and 1/2 hours, when turtles can only for about an hour underwater without air.
We ask Louisiana to do the correct thing for the endangered turtles and equip all trawling shrimp boat nets with Turtle Excluder Devices.
SOURCE: http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2013/02/federal_fisheries_official_tel.html
