NMFS issues this temporary action to allow the use of limited tow times as an alternative to the requirement to use Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) by shrimp trawlers operating south and west of Cape Lookout, North Carolina, in the offshore waters out to 3 nautical miles (nm) (5.5 km). NMFS has been notified by the Director of the Division of Marine Fisheries of the North Carolina Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (NCDMF) that large amounts of debris in Atlantic Ocean waters along the southern portion of the State in the aftermath of the Hurricanes' Dennis and Floyd are causing difficulty with the performance of TEDs. NMFS will monitor the situation to ensure there is adequate protection for sea turtles in this area and to determine whether impacts from the hurricanes continue to make TED use impracticable.