To protect sea turtles, government pushing pricey regulations on shrimpers

The federal government says new shrimping regulations are needed to protect endangered sea turtles. But shrimpers worry that it places a financial burden on them and reduces the amount of shrimp they catch. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration proposed a new rule in May that requires shrimp boats that fish with skimmer trawls to use turtle excluder devices. These devices are designed to allow sea turtles — listed as either endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 — to escape if caught by shrimpers. “In the past, we’ve had a lot of regulations based on bad science,” John Williams of the Southern Shrimp Association in Florida told The Daily Caller in an interview. “And that has really left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth in the shrimp industry.” Clint Guidry, the president of the Louisiana Shrimp Association, told the Houma Today newspaper in Louisiana last month that officials are jumping the gun with these regulations. “They seem to be pulling the trigger on this rule before the science comes in,” Guidry said. “Their movement has been to automatically come straight at the inshore shrimp industry.”...more