Sea Turtle Conservation; Restrictions Applicable to Shrimp Trawl Activities; Leatherback Conservation Zone

NMFS is extending for 1 week its existing closure of all inshore waters and offshore waters out to 10 nautical miles (nm) (18.5 km) seaward of the COLREGS demarcation line (as defined at 33 CFR part 80), bounded by 32 deg. N. lat. and 33 deg. N. lat. within the Leatherback conservation zone, to fishing by shrimp trawlers required to have a turtle excluder device (TED) installed in each net that is rigged for fishing, unless the TED has an escape opening large enough to exclude leatherback turtles, as specified in the regulations. The existing closure was scheduled to expire at 11:59 p.m. (local time) on May 21, 1999 (published in the Federal Register on May 12, 1999). The closure of the area will now expire at 11:59 p.m. (local time) on May 28, 1999. This continued closure is necessary to reduce mortality of endangered leatherback sea turtles incidentally captured in shrimp trawls.