Conservation organizations and sea turtle lovers have organized a petition aimed at Gov. Bobby Jindal to repeal a state law that exempts Louisiana from following federal regulations to protect sea turtles.
Chris Pincetich, marine biologist at seaturtles.org, said the petition calls for the governor and state legislators to take action to save turtles.
When the demand for shrimp exploded in the 1970s, Pincetich said the shrimp industry expanded to meet the need. With the rising number of shrimp boats in Gulf waters, sea turtles were increasingly caught, injured and drowned in the shrimp trawls.
According to the Louisiana Fisheries website, scientists discovered sea turtle populations were dwindling, and some species were eventually added to the list of endangered animals. In order to combat sea turtle deaths due to shrimp trawls, turtle excluder devices, or TEDs, were included in the trawls to allow turtles to escape from the nets.
Carole Allen, the Gulf office director at seaturtles.org, said TEDs are installed into the shrimp trawls. TEDs still allow shrimp to enter, but one opening in the trawl allows turtles to escape.
In 1987, Congress passed a federal law that implemented the use of TEDs in shrimp trawls. But Allen said T. John Mijalovich, a Louisiana resident who was against the inclusion of TEDs, gathered a large following in the state and advocated for a state law that would exclude Louisiana from the federal law enforcing the use of TEDs.
The bill, which became state law, stated that Louisiana shrimpers’ trawls will not be checked for TEDs by Louisiana law enforcement in state waters until further research proved that TEDs are an effective tool in preventing sea turtle deaths and do not hinder catching shrimp. But Allen and Pincetich said years of research show TEDs significantly reduce the number of sea turtle deaths while allowing shrimp to be caught successfully.
“Based on provisions in the law itself, the Louisiana Legislature should take it on themselves to change the law,” Pincetich said. “If you are getting shrimp from Louisiana, you may be killing sea turtles at the same time.”
While all other states in the U.S. enforce the use of TEDs, Allen said she believes Louisiana’s refusal to enforce the federal law sets a bad precedent.
“Here’s one state saying they won’t enforce a federal law. It makes Louisiana look bad,” she said. “Should we be proud that we aren’t obeying a federal law?”
Pincetich said the state Legislature passed a bill in 2010 to require the enforcement of TEDs, but in June of that year, Jindal vetoed the bill. Allen said she hopes another legislator will pick up the bill again.
Allen said she has made attempts to contact Jindal for months about the issue but hasn’t received a reply.
“When recently traveling with [Gov. Rick Perry], Jindal has been mentioned favorably on a national scene,” she said. “If you want to run for president or vice president, it would seem to me that you should be able to say that my state respected federal law, but he can’t. He hasn’t done anything about it.”
Paul LaRock, a professor in the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, said he lived in Florida when the federal law was created.
“There was a lot of support in Florida, but I don’t notice that here,” he said.
Since many Louisiana residents rely on profits from the shrimping industry, LaRock said he isn’t surprised that the state doesn’t
favor TEDs.
“I can understand why people don’t support it, but if something isn’t done, sea turtle populations are going to be wiped out,” he said.
Biology professor Andrew Whitehead said he doubts state officials will make any progress on the issue.
“This is something that is not likely to be high on Jindal’s priority list,” he said. “Environmental protection in general has never been high on Louisiana’s to-do list.”
While the governor and Legislature focus on retirement and education reforms, Whitehead said the safety of sea turtles will likely be put off until a later date.
“To see any action on this in the near future, I’m not terribly optimistic,” he said. “Other things are on the radar of the public. Politicians don’t pay attention to these things unless their constituents are banging on their doors about it.”
Pincetich said students can get more information about the cause at seaturtles.org. 
 
____
Contact Kate Mabry at [email protected]