342
The Biology of Sea Turtles, Vol. II
13.4 IMPLEMENTATION OF TEDS IN U.S. FISHERIES
13.4.1 T HE P ROCESS AND THE S HRIMP F ISHERY *
TEDs were first developed and implemented in the U.S., but the process was
protracted and contentious. Between 1970 and 1978 all six sea turtle species in U.S.
waters were recognized as endangered or threatened and protected under the U.S.
Endangered Species Act. Shrimp trawling was identified as a principle source of
mortality in sea turtles as early as 1973 (Pritchard and Márquez, 1973); other
documentation followed (Henwood and Stuntz, 1987; Hillestad et al., 1978). These
studies, as well as the large numbers of loggerhead turtles, Caretta caretta (the most
common species found in U.S. waters), washing up dead on ocean beaches caused
NMFS to search for a solution. NMFS’ first innovation was to install a large mesh
panel of webbing over the mouth of the trawl. The panel allowed shrimp to pass
and excluded most sea turtles, but the loss of shrimp was significant and sometimes
turtles became entangled in the large meshes of the panel (Oravetz and Grant, 1986).
The next approach was to allow everything to enter the trawl, but separate the target
species from the bycatch near the codend. The design was based on a device already
used by many shrimpers to exclude jellyfish when coelentrates were especially
abundant. NMFS, in cooperation with commercial shrimpers, experimented with
several configurations and found that turtle catch could be eliminated almost completely with little or no reduction in shrimp catches. By 1980 NMFS had a TED
(Watson et al., 1986).
NMFS initially was reluctant to require TEDs for fear that additional regulations would exacerbate existing economic problems in the shrimp fishery
(Oravetz and Grant, 1986). Also of concern was the agency’s ability to enforce
any TED regulations given the geographic scope and the number of vessels
involved. NMFS anticipated that industry, with encouragement, would voluntarily
accept and use the device, and over the next several years purchased and distributed a few hundred TEDs to industry. Throughout the 1980s, NMFS, Sea Grant,
and conservation organizations worked with industry to encourage the use of
TEDs and to improve upon the original NMFS design, which was heavy and
unwieldy. As a result, several lighter designs were developed. Ultimately, however, fishermen could not relate their individual trawling activities to the turtle
mortality caused collectively by the entire fleet because catch rates of turtles were
relatively low: one turtle per 322.5 h fished in the Gulf of Mexico and one turtle
per 20.6 h fished off the southeast U.S. (Henwood and Stuntz, 1987). Hence, they
perceived TEDs as an unnecessary solution to an unfounded problem. When, in
1986, it became apparent that industry would not voluntarily adopt TEDs to save
protected species — less than 1% were using them in 1985 (Oravetz and Grant,
1986) — the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and conservation organizations
requested that the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (the organization
with the authority to manage the shrimp fishery in the Gulf of Mexico) require
TEDs to prevent the continued drowning of sea turtles in shrimp trawls (Center
* Much of the discussion on the implementation of TEDs in the U.S. was taken from Oravetz and Grant
(1986) and Center for Marine Conservation (1995).
1123 book.book Page 342 Thursday, November 14, 2002 11:50 AM
The Biology of Sea Turtles, Vol. II
13.4 IMPLEMENTATION OF TEDS IN U.S. FISHERIES
13.4.1 T HE P ROCESS AND THE S HRIMP F ISHERY *
TEDs were first developed and implemented in the U.S., but the process was
protracted and contentious. Between 1970 and 1978 all six sea turtle species in U.S.
waters were recognized as endangered or threatened and protected under the U.S.
Endangered Species Act. Shrimp trawling was identified as a principle source of
mortality in sea turtles as early as 1973 (Pritchard and Márquez, 1973); other
documentation followed (Henwood and Stuntz, 1987; Hillestad et al., 1978). These
studies, as well as the large numbers of loggerhead turtles, Caretta caretta (the most
common species found in U.S. waters), washing up dead on ocean beaches caused
NMFS to search for a solution. NMFS’ first innovation was to install a large mesh
panel of webbing over the mouth of the trawl. The panel allowed shrimp to pass
and excluded most sea turtles, but the loss of shrimp was significant and sometimes
turtles became entangled in the large meshes of the panel (Oravetz and Grant, 1986).
The next approach was to allow everything to enter the trawl, but separate the target
species from the bycatch near the codend. The design was based on a device already
used by many shrimpers to exclude jellyfish when coelentrates were especially
abundant. NMFS, in cooperation with commercial shrimpers, experimented with
several configurations and found that turtle catch could be eliminated almost completely with little or no reduction in shrimp catches. By 1980 NMFS had a TED
(Watson et al., 1986).
NMFS initially was reluctant to require TEDs for fear that additional regulations would exacerbate existing economic problems in the shrimp fishery
(Oravetz and Grant, 1986). Also of concern was the agency’s ability to enforce
any TED regulations given the geographic scope and the number of vessels
involved. NMFS anticipated that industry, with encouragement, would voluntarily
accept and use the device, and over the next several years purchased and distributed a few hundred TEDs to industry. Throughout the 1980s, NMFS, Sea Grant,
and conservation organizations worked with industry to encourage the use of
TEDs and to improve upon the original NMFS design, which was heavy and
unwieldy. As a result, several lighter designs were developed. Ultimately, however, fishermen could not relate their individual trawling activities to the turtle
mortality caused collectively by the entire fleet because catch rates of turtles were
relatively low: one turtle per 322.5 h fished in the Gulf of Mexico and one turtle
per 20.6 h fished off the southeast U.S. (Henwood and Stuntz, 1987). Hence, they
perceived TEDs as an unnecessary solution to an unfounded problem. When, in
1986, it became apparent that industry would not voluntarily adopt TEDs to save
protected species — less than 1% were using them in 1985 (Oravetz and Grant,
1986) — the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and conservation organizations
requested that the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (the organization
with the authority to manage the shrimp fishery in the Gulf of Mexico) require
TEDs to prevent the continued drowning of sea turtles in shrimp trawls (Center
* Much of the discussion on the implementation of TEDs in the U.S. was taken from Oravetz and Grant
(1986) and Center for Marine Conservation (1995).
1123 book.book Page 342 Thursday, November 14, 2002 11:50 AM