New Shrimp-Net Proposals to Be Submitted : Protect Turtles, Judge Tells Mosbacher

A federal judge in Washington ruled Thursday that Commerce Secretary Robert A. Mosbacher violated the law when he suspended regulations designed to protect endangered sea turtles from being trapped in shrimpers’ nets.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan said Mosbacher’s action on July 24 was a “total abrogation of the regulations.”

In the face of intense lobbying by Gulf Coast congressmen and shrimpers, Mosbacher had ordered a 45-day suspension of rules specifying that shrimpers must use turtle excluder devices, or TEDs, which allow the sea turtles to escape from fishing nets.

But rather than reinstating the regulations, Hogan said Mosbacher would be permitted to come up with an alternate set of proposals to protect the turtles by Monday. In a statement released late Thursday afternoon, Mosbacher said he would submit regulations that would require shrimpers to either limit their trawling time or use the TEDs.

Michael Weber of the Center for Marine Conservation said the new set of proposals “may open up a whole new can of worms” because environmentalists believe only the TEDS are adequate to protect the turtles.

The TEDs, which have been used successfully off the coasts of both South Carolina and Florida, were developed by the government and commercial fishermen over the last dozen years. The Gulf Coast shrimpers contend the devices might cause the loss of some of their catch.

Mosbacher suspended the use of the devices after shrimpers in Texas and Louisiana blockaded several ports to protest the regulations. At the time, memos and letters from Commerce Department lawyers and scientists urged Mosbacher to keep the regulations in place.

In a brief filed with Hogan’s court, Mosbacher said he ordered the 45-day moratorium “in response to a situation that was becoming increasingly dangerous. . . . The volatility of the situation demanded immediate action.”

Mosbacher also proposed in a brief to the court that shrimpers pull up their nets every 105 minutes in order to release turtles that have been caught during that time. But environmentalists immediately attacked that proposal, saying that the 105-minute tow time limit could not be adequately enforced and that it was a violation of the Endangered Species Act.

“We think the 105-minute tow is a sham,” said Weber.

John Sheppard, representing the Louisiana Justice Department--which joined the suit on Mosbacher’s behalf--told United Press International Thursday that he was pleased the judge failed to order the use of TEDs for the moment. He and other Louisiana state officials favor the 105-minute net drag time.

“It’s better to have a rule that will generally be adhered to than a utopian rule that has been met with incredible resistance,” he said.