US raps Venezuela, Honduras for harming sea turtles

www.alertnet.org 06 Mar 2003 23:52

WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - The United States said on Thursday it would bar some shrimp imports from Honduras and Venezuela, apparently because their fishermen may be drowning sea turtles in their nets.

The State Department said U.S. law bans imports of shrimp harvested in a way that harms turtles unless a country has a "sea turtle protection program" like United States or has a fishing environment "that does not pose a threat" to turtles.

The key element of the U.S. sea turtle conservation program is that commercial shrimp boats must use sea turtle "excluder devices" to prevent the accidental drowning of sea turtles in shrimp trawls, the department said.

Such devices direct turtles to an opening in the trawl -- a large bag-like net dragged by a boat -- so they are not trapped and drowned.

The department said it determined on Jan. 29 that Venezuela and Honduras were not meeting the U.S. requirements, triggering the suspension of imports of shrimp harvested with commercial fishing technology that may hurt the turtles. Shrimp harvested by "artisanal" and other methods may still be imported.

The State Department said it hoped the suspension would be brief and it may send teams of experts to the two countries to assess what they are doing to protect sea turtles.