Louisiana
Shrimpers Receive Temporary Turtle Excluder Device (TED) Exemption
Following Hurricane Katrina
Posted:
10/3/05
The National
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has granted shrimp trawlers
a temporary 30-day exemption from federal Turtle Excluder
Device (TED) requirements in certain state and federal waters
off Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.
Shrimp
trawlers fishing in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana waters
westward to the boundary of Vermilion and Cameron Parish at
longitude 92 degrees and 37 minutes West and extending 50
nautical miles offshore are now exempt from federal TED requirements
through Oct. 22, 2005. In lieu of TEDs, this authorization
requires shrimp trawlers to restrict tow times to 55 minutes
measured from the time trawl doors enter the water until they
are retrieved from the water, according to NMFS.
This exemption
from federal TED requirements will expire at 11:59 p.m. on
Oct. 22, 2005, unless otherwise extended by NMFS. Federal
regulations provide for the use of limited tow times as an
alternative to the use of TEDs if determined "that the
presence of debris or other special environmental conditions
in a particular area makes trawling with TED-equipped nets
impracticable."
NMFS will
continue to monitor this situation. If monitoring indicates
that debris is no longer a problem, then this authorization
will be shortened. If debris continues to be a problem after
the dates above, this authorization may be extended. Fishermen
should monitor NOAA weather radio for announcements or contact
the NMFS Southeast Regional Office at 727-824-5312.
Louisiana
shrimp fishermen and LDWF marine fisheries biologists have
reported the presence of large amounts of storm related debris
throughout the impacted area. This debris primarily consists
not only of man-made debris but matted grasses, rooted clumps
of marsh vegetation, Roseau cane and branches uprooted and
displaced by the storm. The debris has severely impacted both
shrimp catch and TED performance and has damaged fishing gear
as well.
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