P.M. BRIEFING : Device to Save Sea Turtles Ordered

A federal judge today refused to stop the federal government from requiring Atlantic and Gulf Coast shrimpers to equip their nets with a device intended to preserve sea turtles in danger of extinction.

Louisiana Atty. Gen. William Guste had filed suit on behalf of Gulf Coast shrimpers, who say the “turtle excluder devices,” commonly called TEDs, are dangerous to pull, unnecessary and reduce their catch.

Environmentalists maintain that the devices will help save the endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle from extinction by reducing the number of turtles caught by the shrimpers.

U.S. District Judge Patrick Carr issued his ruling today after holding a rare telephone hearing Friday on Guste’s request for a temporary restraining order to block the requirement.

TEDs fit into the mouth of trawls, a type of net, and have trap doors that let turtles escape. Shrimpers argue that they are too easily clogged with debris and that a significant portion of their catch escapes with the turtles.