The Nation - News from Aug. 9, 1989

The National Wildlife Federation asked a federal judge to force the Commerce Department to require Gulf Coast shrimpers to equip their nets with turtle excluder devices. The department’s temporary new regulations limiting trawl times do not protect endangered sea turtles as the department claims, the federation argued. The federation said it has learned that Commerce Secretary Robert A. Mosbacher has data from National Marine Fisheries Service scientists that demonstrates the mortality rate from a 105-minute tow time is more than four times greater than what the secretary has admitted. Mosbacher decided July 24 to suspend requirements for excluder devices after Texas and Louisiana shrimpers protested their use by blockading Gulf Coast shipping channels.