Turtle excluder device
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Sea turtle escaping a shrimp net through a Turtle Excluder Device
Loggerhead turtle exits a fishing net through a TED
Loggerhead sea turtle escapes through the excluder device
An example of a commercial turtle excluder device.
A turtle excluder device or TED is a specialized device that allows a captured sea turtle to escape when caught in a fisherman's net.
In particular, sea turtles can be caught when bottom trawling is used by the commercial shrimp fishing industry. In order to catch shrimp, a fine meshed trawl net is needed. This results in large amounts of other marine organisms being also caught as bycatch. When a turtle gets caught or entangled in a trawl net, it becomes trapped and is unable to return to the surface. Since sea turtles are air-breathing creatures with lungs, they eventually drown.
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This post was edited by BIloxiMississippi on Mar 16 2013 02:07pm