NMFS is issuing a final rule to amend the regulations protecting sea turtles. This final rule: Requires that turtle excluder devices (TEDs) be installed in try nets with a headrope length greater than 12 ft (3.6 m) and a footrope length greater than 15 ft (4.6 m), applicable December 19, 1997; removes the approval of the Morrison, Parrish, Andrews, and Taylor soft TEDs, applicable December 19, 1997 (if improvements or modifications can be and are made to any of these soft TED designs so that they exclude turtles effectively, NMFS will institute a rulemaking to continue or reinstate the approval of any such soft TEDs as improved or modified); establishes Shrimp Fishery Sea Turtle Conservation Areas (SFSTCAs); and, within the SFSTCAs, imposes the new TED requirement for try nets, removes the approval of soft TEDs, and modifies the requirements for bottom-opening hard TEDs, effective March 1, 1997. This final rule is necessary to enhance the effectiveness of the regulations protecting sea turtles in reducing sea turtle mortality resulting from shrimp trawling in the Atlantic and Gulf Areas in the southeastern United States.