Group Warns that Faster Action is Necessary to Save Threatened and Endangered Species Being Killed in Record Numbers Since Gulf of Mexico Oil Disaster
Oceana, the largest international advocacy group working solely to protect the world’s oceans, said today that the U.S. government is failing to protect sea turtles from destructive shrimp trawls in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean. Oceana’s reaction follows an announcement today that the government will be conducting a formal analysis of the shrimp fishery’s impact on threatened and endangered sea turtles and will be considering options for additional protections. Additionally, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) will be holding a series of public meetings from North Carolina to Louisiana to discuss the issue.
The alternatives being considered by the government include; (1) requiring all skimmer trawls and similar trawls in federal and state waters of both the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico to use Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs); and (2) time and area closures that would apply to all shrimp vessels in these waters.
“With everything we now know, the government should be taking giant steps, not baby steps,” said Elizabeth Griffin Wilson, marine scientist and senior manager of marine wildlife at Oceana. “The U.S. government has a responsibility to act immediately to protect these threatened and endangered sea turtles. The U.S. government should be issuing a proposal at this stage, not just soliciting ideas.
