HELP SAVE THE LIVES OF THOUSANDS OF SEA TURTLES – ACT NOW!
Voice your support for a proposed US government rule to require all currently exempted Southeast shrimp boats to use Turtle Excluder Devises (TED’s) in their trawls. This requirement is designed to save the lives of thousands of sea turtles a year that needlessly get trapped in these fishing nets.
It is estimated that up to 2,500 endangered and threatened sea turtles drown each year in shrimp trawl nets in the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. TEDs, when installed correctly, are up to 97 percent effective at allowing captured sea turtles to escape. TEDs have been required since the 1980s in otter trawls, however, over 5,000 skimmer trawls, pusher-head trawls and wing net trawls in the Southeast shrimp fishery are currently not required to use these proven tools, and can opt to restrict tow times instead of using TEDs. (Tow-time restrictions are difficult to enforce and have been violated in the past.)
The public comment period is ending on February 14, and you can submit your own comment at: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/12/16/2016-30224/sea-turtle-conservation-shrimp-trawling-requirements
At this point, many fishermen are opposing the proposed rule and the Agency is leaning towards making it for specific sized vessels only. They need to hear your comments of support! PLEASE take 5 minutes and let your voice be heard! Be inspired and make a difference!
The most important message points to consider in your comments are that “sea turtles are important, that you support the rule and that TEDs should be on ALL trawls.”
Also, please check out our Sea Turtle PSA and feel free to share it. On behalf of all of us at Dolphin Quest, we thank you for your support.
For more information about this issue, visit:
http://usa.oceana.org/publications/reports/teds-all-trawls-net-positive-fishermen-and-sea-turtles