Texas manifesto: Stop the shrimping, spare the sea turtle

A Kemp's ridley sea turtle heads back to sea after nesting

By Environmental News Network staff

May 1, 2000
Web posted at: 11:49 a.m. EDT (1549 GMT)

A proposal that would tighten regulations on the Texas shrimp fishery, presented Wednesday to the state's Shrimp Advisory Committee, is aimed at saving the world's most critically endangered sea turtle.

Endorsed by conservation groups and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the management plan calls for an end to shrimping in state waters off the southern coast of Texas.

The plan would reduce the number of sea turtles and other marine life that are caught in shrimp nets. It would also help establish a second nesting colony for the Kemp's ridley turtle.

Listed under the Endangered Species Act since 1970, Kemp's ridley turtles depend on a principal breeding ground at Rancho Nuevo beach in Mexico.

Less than 3 percent of the Texas shrimping industry would be affected by the plan.

"This is the first time the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has come up with anything that represents a true conservation measure for the Texas coast," said Teri Shore, the campaign director for the Sea Turtle Restoration Project. "We hope that Governor Bush will publicly support the proposal. This is a great opportunity for Bush to truly show his environmental leadership and support what his own state wildlife agencies are suggesting."

Conservationists have long maintained that there is a strong correlation between shrimping and sea turtle mortality.

"A closure to shrimping along the southern Texas coast would greatly reduce the number of sea turtles that are captured and drowned in shrimp trawls," said Brian Sybert, Natural Resources Director for the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Shrimp trawling is the most lucrative fishery in the southeastern United States. In Texas alone, it is a $500 million industry annually. Before turtle excluder devices were required in the early 1990s for shrimpers in the Gulf of Mexico and the southern Atlantic coast, shrimp trawling killed 11,000 sea turtles annually, according to conservationists.

Exclusionary devices are known to save 97 percent of the turtles that get caught in shrimping nets. But conservationists say that almost one-third of the shrimping boats that fish off Texas shores do not use the devices properly or fail to use them.

A proposal to stop shrimp harvests in specific areas along the Texas coast will help prevent sea turtle mortality, conservationists say

"The shrimp industry is notorious for the amount of non-target species they catch," Sybert said. "Only 20 percent of their catch is actually shrimp, according to a recent Texas Parks and Wildlife Service study."

Stricter shrimping regulations would help spare bycatch — fish such as sand trout, the Atlantic croaker and the blue crab. In turn, healthier fish populations would enhance the state's $2 billion sportfishing industry.

Conservationists are campaigning for similar controls along the northern coast of Texas, where most shrimp harvesting in the state occurs. So far, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has proposed gear and time restrictions for shrimp fisheries in the area. But conservationists say this management plan will not protect sea turtles and could increase levels of shrimping.

The gear restrictions would apply principally to large shrimping vessels, pushing them farther away from the coastline. The restriction would create an incentive for smaller shrimp boats to take advantage of reduced competition in areas nearer to the shore, Sybert explained.

The proposed changes follow an 18-month revision of state shrimping regulations by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which found that the shrimping industry is on the verge of a decline. "A closure on the northern portion of the coast would protect white shrimp spawning habitat and allow shrimp to mature and move farther offshore where they will be worth more per catch," Sybert said.

"It is time to take corrective action," said Mike Ray, director of field operation for coastal fisheries in Texas. "The proposal can have a dual effect of conserving sea turtles and protecting adult shrimp."

Public comments on the proposed shrimping regulations can be sent to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, c/o Robin Riechers, 4200 Smith School Road, Austin, Texas 78744.

Copyright 1999, Environmental News Network, All Rights Reserved

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The Sea Turtle Restoration Project
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
The Sierra Club
Texas sea turtles
Endangered Species Act
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

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