Attorney General Jeff Landry is suing the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and other federal agencies, arguing that a new rule to protect sea turtles poses a threat to the livelihoods of Louisiana shrimp fishermen.
Landry filed the motion for a temporary restraining order in the Eastern District of Louisiana to stop the agency from implementing a 2019 rule against shrimp fishermen in the state.
“The 2019 Final Rule poses an existential threat to Louisiana’s shrimping industry,” the Aug. 11 complaint states. “And defendants have arbitrarily allowed it to go into effect, notwithstanding that it requires equipment that is widely unavailable.”
The NMFS rule, which took effect at the beginning of the month after several delays, requires inshore skimmers to be equipped with special equipment called turtle excluder devices (TEDs).These devices keep endangered sea turtles in the region from being caught in the ships’ nets, according to the lawsuit.
“The urgent problem prompting this motion is that nothing about the supply-chain, manpower and training disruptions has changed” in recent months, the complaint states. “COVID-related disruptions still abound, rendering skimmer captains still unable to comply with the 2019 Final Rule due to the sheer unavailability of TEDs.”
Without immediate action by the court, shrimpers who don’t want to risk being fined $10,000 for violating the federal rule will not be able earn a living during the current peak shrimping season, according to the president of the Louisiana Shrimp Association, Acy Cooper Jr.
“We’re hoping and praying they act quickly, but we know how the government works,” Cooper told the Louisiana Record. “Government just drags their feet and never acts fast.”
Cooper said he was unaware of any study proving that shrimpers’ nets have killed a single sea turtle.
“NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) cannot prove that these nets killed one turtle,” he said.
An NOAA spokeswoman told the Louisiana Record that the agency is aware of Landry’s lawsuit and is now reviewing it carefully.
Last week, Jerri Smitko, who chairs the Louisiana Wildlife & Fisheries Commission, sent a letter to NOAA’s regional administrator urging the rule be delayed. The downsizing of Louisiana’s shrimp fleet has reduced possible interactions with turtles, and there are not enough TED devices on the market to supply the state’s shrimpers, who are currently struggling to stay above the poverty line, Smitko said.