Sea Turtle Conservation; Restrictions Applicable to Shrimp Trawling Activities; Additional Turtle Excluder Device Requirements Within Certain Fishery Statistical Zones

NMFS is imposing, for a 30-day period, additional restrictions on shrimp trawlers fishing in offshore waters out to 10 nautical miles (nm) (18.5 km) from the COLREGS line between 30 deg.45' N. lat. and 33 deg.00' N. lat. in the Atlantic Area. This area includes all of the Georgia coast and the southern portion of the South Carolina coast, which includes all or a portion of Zones 30 through 32. The restrictions include prohibitions on the use by shrimp trawlers of soft turtle excluder devices (TEDs) and try nets with a headrope length greater than 12 ft (3.6 m) or a footrope length greater than 15 ft (4.5 m), unless the try nets are equipped with approved TEDs other than soft TEDs. This action is necessary to ensure protection for sea turtles and to prevent the continuation of high levels of mortality and strandings of threatened and endangered sea turtles.