Turtle excluder device requirements for Louisiana's largest skimmer shrimp trawlers survived a federal court challenge this week. On August 28, 2026, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a rule requiring turtle excluder devices (TEDs) on any skimmer trawl vessel 40 feet or longer, ruling against the Louisiana Shrimp Association in Louisiana Shrimp Association v. Biden. Association board president Acy Cooper argues the industry can't confirm a single sea turtle death caused by a skimmer trawler, pointing to a Louisiana state wildlife dataset spanning 55 years and 128,781 trawl samples that documented just two sea turtle interactions in the state's inshore waters.
Federal observers tell a different story. Watching the same fishery for roughly half a percent of its total fishing hours between 2012 and 2015, they recorded the highest sea turtle captures anywhere in the fishery in southern Louisiana's inshore waters, with every documented capture across the entire fishery happening there in 2013. NMFS's own analysis puts annual sea turtle captures across Gulf skimmer, pusher-head, and wing-net trawls at roughly 7,794 a year, with an estimated 2,118 to 2,868 of those turtles dying annually. A 2014 federal biological opinion estimated skimmer-trawl deaths alone at 2,017 a year before this rule took effect; a 2021 estimate found that number down to 1,364 after TEDs went in. The court rejected the association's Commerce Clause and major-questions-doctrine arguments, along with its challenge to the rule's projected cost, estimated by the association at $9.4 million and by some counts as high as $44 million in lost revenue, at a time when shrimp prices have already dropped from about $3 a pound to about $1.10.
Ocean advocates are calling the ruling a partial win. Elise Bennett of the Center for Biological Diversity calls the decision a relief and says her organization will keep pushing until every skimmer trawl carries a TED. Joanie Steinhaus of the Turtle Island Restoration Network says she's glad for the ruling and plans to keep advocating for the same. The 40-foot threshold still leaves plenty of smaller skimmer boats working these same inshore waters without a TED requirement. It's real progress for sea turtles trying to survive Louisiana's shrimp season, and there's more ground still to cover.
Chapters:
2:57 – August 28, 2026: The Fifth Circuit Upholds the TED Rule
3:04 – Louisiana's Own Data: 55 Years, Two Documented Sea Turtle Interactions
5:50 – NMFS Estimate: 7,794 Sea Turtles Captured a Year
6:26 – The 2021 Estimate: Down to 1,364 Deaths a Year After TEDs
7:22 – Elise Bennett: "Won't Rest Easy" Until Every Skimmer Trawl Has a TED
Takeaways:
On August 28, 2026, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the federal rule requiring turtle excluder devices (TEDs) on Louisiana skimmer trawl vessels 40 feet and longer, in Louisiana Shrimp Association v. Biden.
Louisiana's own 55-year state wildlife dataset documented just two sea turtle interactions in inshore waters, but federal observer data found the highest sea turtle capture rates in the entire Gulf fishery happening in those same Louisiana inshore waters.
NMFS estimates roughly 7,794 sea turtle captures a year across Gulf skimmer, pusher-head, and wing-net trawls, with an estimated 2,118 to 2,868 turtle deaths annually.
TEDs are working: annual bycatch mortality fell from an estimated 2,017 a year in 2014 to roughly 1,364 by 2021.
The Louisiana Shrimp Association estimates the rule could cost the industry $9.4 million, with some estimates as high as $44 million in lost revenue.
The court rejected the association's Commerce Clause and major-questions-doctrine arguments.
The 40-foot vessel threshold means smaller skimmer boats in the same waters still aren't required to use TEDs, so advocates say the work continues.
#OceanConservation #MarineBiology #SaveOurOceans #ProtectTheOcean #OceanAwareness #BluePlanet #ConservationMatters #ScienceForChange #SustainableOceans
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