Oceana has released a new report outlining violations of sea turtle protection regulations in the Gulf of Mexico Shrimp Fishery.
Specifically, the data shows that illegal fishing in the Gulf is killing thousands of threatened and endangered sea turtles, far more than had originally been estimated and approved by the US government under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Oceana’s report documents violations of the fishery to use Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs), which allow sea turtles to escape instead of drowning in the nets. It also provides a sea turtle mortality estimate for Gulf bottom otter trawls, taking into account the documented illegal activity. Gulf bottom otter trawls alone are killing at least 4,874 loggerhead and 108 leatherback sea turtles, which is significantly higher than the ESA authorised catch limit for these species for the entire shrimp fishery.
The most egregious violations are vessels fishing without TEDs or with the TED escape hatch intentionally blocked. In fact, 17% of the vessels documented in the report were guilty of one of these types of violations.
“17% of the Gulf shrimp fishing vessels are killing nearly 90% of the sea turtles they encounter,” said Elizabeth Griffin Wilson, senior manager for marine wildlife at Oceana. “This is far more sea turtle deaths than the government originally estimated at approximately three percent.”
In a letter to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Oceana notified the government that it will sue unless immediate action is taken to remedy these violations and protect sea turtles.
To view the report please click here.
