Sea Turtle Conservation; Shrimp Trawling Requirements

NMFS is imposing, for a 30-day period, an additional restriction on shrimp trawlers required to have a turtle excluder device (TED) installed in each net that is rigged for fishing, operating in Atlantic offshore waters out to 10 nautical miles (nm)(18.3 km) from the coast of Florida between 28 deg. N. latitude and the Georgia-Florida border. Shrimp vessels operating in this area must use a TED with an escape opening large enough to exclude leatherback turtles, as specified in the regulations. This action is necessary to reduce mortality of endangered leatherback sea turtles incidentally captured in shrimp trawls.