Abstract. -Observers from the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service 

 collected information on catch rates 

 of shrimp aboard commercial shrimp 

 vessels during March 1988-August 

 1990. Comparisons were made be- 

 tween nets equipped with Turtle Ex- 

 cluder Devices (TEDs) and standard 

 shrimp nets. Three types of TEDs 

 were tested: Georgia TEDs with 

 and without accelerator funnels, and 

 Super Shooter TEDs with funnels. 



Fishing areas, time of day, and du- 

 ration of tows were controlled by the 

 captain of each vessel to simulate 

 commercial conditions. A statisti- 

 cally-significant (P<0.05) mean loss 

 in shrimp catch-per-unit-effort 

 (CPUE) of 0.24 lb/h (3.6% ) and 0.93 

 lb/h (13.6%) was exhibited by nets 

 equipped with Georgia TEDs (with 

 and without funnels, respectively) 

 compared with standard nets. There 

 was no significant difference in 

 shrimp CPUE between standard 

 nets and nets equipped with Super 

 Shooter TEDs with a funnel. 



Loss of shrimp by turtle excluder 

 devices (TEDs) in coastal waters 

 of the United States, 

 North Carolina to Texas: 

 March 1988-August 1990 



Maurice Renaud 

 Gregg Gitschlag 

 Edward Klima 



Galveston Laboratory, Southeast Fisheries Science Center 

 National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA 

 4700 Avenue U. Galveston, Texas 77551 



Arvind Shah 



Pascagoula Laboratory, Southeast Fisheries Science Center 



National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA 



3209 Frederick Street, Pascagoula, Mississippi 39567 



Dennis Koi 

 James Nance 



Galveston Laboratory, Southeast Fisheries Science Center 

 National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA 

 4700 Avenue U, Galveston, Texas 7755! 



Manuscript accepted 17 September 1992. 

 Fishery Bulletin, U.S. 91:129-137 1 199.3). 



The National Marine Fisheries Ser- 

 vice (NMFS) promulgated regulations 

 which required the use of Turtle Ex- 

 cluder Devices (TEDs) on offshore 

 shrimp vessels beginning in June 

 1987 (Federal Register 1987), de- 

 pending upon vessel size, geographic 

 location, and season. In offshore wa- 

 ters, all shrimp trawlers 25 ft and 

 longer must use approved TEDs, and 

 shrimp trawlers smaller than 25 ft 

 are required to restrict tow times to 

 90 min or less. All shrimp trawlers 

 not pulling TEDs must restrict tow 

 times to 90 min or less in inshore wa- 

 ters. Shrimp trawlers using TEDs are 

 exempt from tow time restrictions in 

 both inshore and offshore waters. 

 TED use in the Gulf of Mexico is 

 required during 1 March-30 Novem- 

 ber inshore and offshore. In the At- 

 lantic, TEDs are required both in- 

 shore and offshore during 1 May-31 



August, except for waters off Cape 

 Canaveral and southwest Florida 

 where TEDs are required year-round. 



The shrimp fishery in the Gulf of 

 Mexico and southeastern United 

 States is valued at approximately 

 $470 million. Fishing occurs year- 

 round in the Gulf of Mexico, with 

 peak landings in summer for brown 

 shrimp, in fall for white shrimp, and 

 in winter and spring for pink shrimp 

 (Klima et al. 1986, Magnuson et al. 

 1990). Similarly in the Atlantic, peak 

 landings occur in summer for brown 

 shrimp and in fall for white shrimp 

 (Magnuson et al. 1990). 



According to shrimp fishermen, the 

 use of TEDs reduces shrimp catches 

 to the point that their livelihoods are 

 threatened. In 1988, both the Office 

 of Management and Budget (OMB) 

 and the House Appropriations Com- 

 mittee mandated certain studies test- 



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