NEW ORLEANS, La. (KLFY) -- The Louisiana Shrimp Association has filed a lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service for their rule requiring skimmer trawl vessels to use Turtle Excluder Devices in Louisiana's inshore waters.

The complaint, filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, challenges the rule on the grounds that it violates the Administrative Procedure Act, the Dormant Commerce Clause and the Major Questions Doctrine.

Previously, the State of Louisiana sued the NMFS under the Administrative Procedure Act, challenging the rule as arbitrary and capricious. Louisiana argued that the TEDs were unnecessary in state waters and would economically harm its shrimp fisheries. On June 15, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that the State of Louisiana lacked standing to challenge the rule.

TEDs, or turtle excluder devices, are special metal grates for shrimping nets used in the Gulf of Mexico. TEDs create an opening that allows trapped turtles to escape nets before they drown. They have been required in the United States beginning in 1987, and the law was recently expanded to include skimmer vessels that are 40 feet long and longer.

Five sea turtle species, all endangered or threatened, are found in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic. Young Kemp’s ridley turtles — the most endangered species — forage close to shore in the Gulf and southeastern Atlantic. Green,loggerhead,leatherback, and hawksbill sea turtles regularly nest on U.S. beaches, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

According to the complaint, the NMFS failed to consider evidence that sea turtles do not interact with shrimpers in inshore waters and their nesting sites are thriving. The suit alleges the costs of implementing the rule will be disastrous to Louisiana shrimpers, who live on slim margins and are already struggling to make ends meet with an influx of foreign shrimp imports.

"The bureaucrats who instituted this rule ignored the economic devastation it will cause to shrimpers," said James Baehr, from the Pelican Institute Center for Justice. "This unnecessary and unconstitutional rule is a direct attack on Louisiana livelihoods and culture.”

According to the suit by the LSA, in addition to the expense of installing the device, TEDs are also costly to shrimpers because they lose shrimp that are funneled out of the net because of it, particularly when debris gets caught in the TED. Studies cited in the lawsuit claim that the average first year revenue loss for shrimpers would range between $9.4 million and $44 million.

The LSA is represented by lawyers from the Pelican Institute’s Center for Justice, a conservative think-tank based in New Orleans.

“Today, the Supreme Court will hear a pivotal case on the power of this agency over small businessmen, and this is a perfect time for the Louisiana Shrimp Association to stand up against unelected bureaucrats in Washington. The shrimpers are fighting for their rights and their way of life, and they will not back down,” said Sarah Harbison from the Pelican Center for Justice.

James Baehr, a special council with the Pelican Institute, explains why they are representing the shrimpers.

"We are representing the Louisiana Shrimp Association and some individual shrimpers here in Louisiana who are fighting against a Biden Administration regulation that is requiring them to install these expensive devices, contraptions to their nets called turtle exclusion devices," said Baehr.

Acy Cooper, with the Louisiana Shrimp Association, explains why the shrimpers disagree with the new policy.

"So they can't actually say that we kill any turtles. They have no proof. We did a bycatch study two years ago, five hundred and something hours of towing and never caught one turtle," said Cooper.

He continues,

"We are not just fighting for ourselves, but for the entire shrimping industry in Louisiana," said Cooper. "We urge the Biden Administration to stop this unfair rule so that we can continue feeding our families and yours with high quality shrimp.”

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