Tag Archives: New Orleans federal court

Louisiana denounces federal rule for shrimp boats at Fifth Circuit

The small shellfish are big business in Louisiana with 15,000 residents employed in the industry, which has an annual economic impact of $1.3 billion for the state, according to its Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board. But Louisiana shrimpers who followed their fathers and grandfathers into the trade say it is dying as wild-caught and farm-raised imports from Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and India into the U.S. have exceeded 1 billion pounds annually in recent years. Since 1987, the National Marine Fisheries Service has required shrimp trawlers in some circumstances to install turtle excluder devices, which separate sea turtles, sharks and other large bycatch so they can escape through an opening in the netting. >click to read< 09:52

Louisiana sues NMFS over ‘devastating’ rule for its shrimpers

Louisiana has sued the National Marine Fisheries Service in New Orleans federal court to stop it from implementing a regulation that obliges certain shrimp fishermen to install devices that keep endangered sea turtles out of their catch. In a Wednesday complaint, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry said the rule that took effect on Aug. 1, about a week before the beginning of the state’s shrimping season, will have “devastating consequences” on the fishermen’s already thin profit margins, and has sowed confusion with fishermen unable to find enough suppliers of so-called turtle-excluder devices for their fishing nets because the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the supply chain. >click to read< 19:38