U.S. Appeals Court Rules to Protect Imperiled Sea Turtles from Drowning in Fishing Nets

A federal appeals court has upheld the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) 2019 rule requiring some shrimp trawling vessels to use turtle excluder devices (TEDs) so that sea turtles can escape when they get caught in nets.

The August 28 unanimous panel decision by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed an earlier district court ruling. The Appeals Court decision rejects a challenge brought by the Louisiana Shrimp Association and several individual shrimpers, who argued the rule was arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act.

The court found that NMFS provided a rational, evidence-backed explanation for the rule’s TED requirements for skimmer trawl shrimp vessels 40 feet and longer, citing federal observer data and mortality studies showing that skimmer trawls capture and kill imperiled sea turtles.

The court also pointed to evidence demonstrating that skimmer trawl vessels had widespread noncompliance with tow-time restrictions (limits on how long trawlers can tow their nets before having to check for captured turtles). In some years, less than 35% of observed tows complied with the limits.

The Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, and Turtle Island Restoration Network, represented by Earthjustice, filed an amicus brief in the case in support of TED requirements to protect endangered and threatened sea turtles. TEDs have been required, and successfully used, on many fishing vessels for nearly forty years to help sea turtles escape from nets. Conservation groups have long advocated for TEDs to  be required also on skimmer trawl vessels, which for decades operated under the tow-time exemption that conservation groups say allowed thousands of preventable sea turtle deaths in the Gulf of Mexico and along the southeastern coast.

“We are delighted by this current ruling that will reduce the number of sea turtles from drowning in large shrimp nets, but we will continue to advocate for TEDs to be required in all skimmer trawls to prevent the continuing cruel and unnecessary drowning of these gentle endangered turtles,” said Joanie Steinhaus, Ocean Director for Turtle Island Restoration Network.

“As the court recognized, the science has shown for years that tow-time limits simply don’t work and turtle excluder devices do,” said Earthjustice attorney Rumela Roy. “But the agency’s rule covers only a fraction of skimmer trawls. More protections are needed to rescue endangered and threatened sea turtles in the Gulf.”

“It’s a relief that the court didn’t take the bait and dismantle protections that are already far weaker than what’s needed to secure a future for our precious sea turtles,” said Elise Bennett, Florida and Caribbean director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “We won’t rest easy until these commonsense, lifesaving protections prevent senseless deaths of turtles in all skimmer trawls.”

“This decision maintains a vital lifeline for Kemp’s ridley sea turtles, the smallest and most endangered sea turtle species worldwide, for which Louisiana’s waters are key foraging habitat,” said Jane Davenport, senior attorney at Defenders of Wildlife. “Tow-time restrictions just don’t work. TEDs are a coexistence win for sea turtles and fishermen alike.”

Background

The 2019 rule was the product of a regulatory process stretching back to 1987, when NMFS first required TEDs on larger offshore shrimp trawlers. Skimmer trawl vessels — used almost exclusively out of Louisiana, with smaller numbers operating from Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, and Florida — were exempted from the TED requirement in 1992 and allowed instead to comply with tow-time restrictions.

After a 2012 spike in sea turtle strandings in the Gulf, NMFS proposed eliminating the tow-time alternative altogether and replacing it with TED requirements, but withdrew that proposal in 2013 after discovering flaws in existing TED designs. Following years of additional testing and a 2016 proposed rule, NMFS finalized a narrower version in 2019, applying the TED requirement only to skimmer trawl vessels 40 feet and longer. That restriction reduced the number of affected vessels by roughly 82% compared to the original 2016 proposal, while still projecting a conservation benefit of 801 to 1,168 sea turtles annually across the southeastern U.S. shrimp fisheries.

This ruling is the third time a federal court has weighed in on the 2019 rule. The Fifth Circuit previously dismissed a separate challenge from the State of Louisiana for lack of standing, and the D.C. Circuit upheld the rule against a 2024 challenge from environmental groups arguing it was not protective enough.