Sea turtles have shared the Gulf of Mexico with fishing vessels for generations. But for decades, a gap in federal regulations has left the majority of Gulf shrimp skimmer trawl boats free to operate without a device proven to keep sea turtles from drowning in their nets. The gap is not an oversight. It's a legal loophole — and it affects most of the fleet.

What Turtle Excluder Devices Do

Turtle excluder devices, or TEDs, are trapdoor-like mechanisms fitted inside trawl nets. When a sea turtle is caught in the net, the TED deflects the animal through an opening to safety while allowing shrimp to continue through. NOAA Fisheries has documented that TED use correlates with meaningful recovery in sea turtle populations — loggerheads, Kemp's ridleys, and other imperiled species that forage in Gulf waters and can be trapped underwater and drowned by trawl gear.

The devices work. Research highlighted by NOAA Fisheries found that even small modifications to TED design can dramatically reduce sea turtle interactions in Gulf fisheries. That's meaningful given how many turtles still encounter shrimp trawls each year.

The 40-Foot Loophole

Current federal rules require TEDs on larger shrimp trawl vessels, but skimmer trawls — a common net configuration used across the Gulf — operated by vessels under 40 feet in length are exempt. As NOAA Fisheries notes, skimmer trawls are kept open by rigid frames rather than being towed through the water column, and they're deployed in shallow nearshore areas where sea turtles are frequently present. Those same shallow coastal waters are critical habitat for young turtles.

That exemption covers the bulk of the Gulf shrimp skimmer fleet. In April 2021, NOAA Fisheries took a preliminary step, issuing an advance notice of proposed rulemaking to gather public comment on requiring TEDs for skimmer trawl vessels under 40 feet. More than five years later, no final rule has followed.

A Federal Court Steps In

In September 2026, a federal appeals court ruled that existing protections for sea turtles caught in Gulf skimmer trawls were legally insufficient. The Center for Biological Diversity and the Turtle Island Restoration Network both reported on the ruling, which found that NOAA's failure to require TEDs on smaller skimmer vessels left protected species at unacceptable risk. Undercurrent News reported that the ruling upholds the legal obligation for stronger protections, putting pressure on the agency to move from preliminary notices to binding regulation.

Why the Rulemaking Matters Now

All seven sea turtle species found in U.S. waters are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Bycatch in shrimp trawls remains one of the most significant human-caused threats to Gulf sea turtle populations. The technology to address it is available, proven, and already in use on part of the fleet. Closing the loophole on smaller skimmer vessels would extend those protections to waters where some of the heaviest turtle interactions occur.

NOAA Fisheries has the authority to initiate that rulemaking now. A petition to the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries calls on the agency to do exactly that — move from a five-year-old advance notice to a formal proposed rule requiring TEDs on all Gulf skimmer trawl vessels, regardless of vessel length.

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