The Earth Patrol Sea Turtles
and the WTO In 1990 the U.S. national academy of
sciences issued a report that more sea turtles are killed by shrimp trawling than all
other human causes combined.
Environmentalists worked for years to pass regulations requiring all nations
exporting shrimp to the U.S. to use Turtle Excluder Devices, or TEDs, to keep sea turtles
from drowning in shrimpers huge funnel-shaped nets. But in 1998, after a series of
closed-door meetings, the World Trade Organization ruled that requiring TEDs was an unfair
restraint of trade and that the U.S. must either change its regulations or pay
compensation to nations that refuse to use the devices.
The sea turtle case is a prime example of how the WTO is devastating environmental
protection worldwide. The ruling not only weakened the most effective international
mechanism for protecting sea turtles, but perpetuated the mass killing of sea turtles in
India. If the WTO remains on this course, international environmental
protectionslike the species they protectmay disappear.
Sea turtles have existed since the age of dinosaurs, but today all seven species
of sea turtles are listed as endangered, threatened, or vulnerable. The population of the
Kemps Ridley sea turtle has declined to only 2,000 nesting females worldwide.
Threats to sea turtles range from the loss of nesting grounds to the slaughter of
adult turtles for their shells and skins, but the greatest threat is the rising
consumption of seafood, made possible by destructive and wasteful methods of industrial
fishing. Before they were banned, high seas driftnets killed hundreds of thousands of sea
turtles every year. Longline fleets, which set up to 10 billion hooks in the ocean every
year, kill countless numbers of sea turtles.
But shrimp trawling is the worst of all: An estimated 150,000 sea turtles are
caught in shrimp nets each year. Sea turtles breathe air, like humans. They can hold their
breath for up to eight hours, but when caught in the nets they eventually drown.
TEDs are simple, inexpensive devices that can prevent more than 97 percent of sea
turtle drownings in shrimp nets. A TED is simply a metal grid that guides sea turtles out
of the net via an escape flap while permitting shrimp to pass between the bars and into
the back of the net.
A 1989 provision of the Endangered Species Act called the Turtle Shrimp Law
required all countries exporting shrimp to the U.S. to use TEDs or other methods that
ensure turtle protection. Later, a coalition of environmental groups sued to compel the
State Department to enforce the law. As a result, 16 nations improved their fishing
policies and practices.
But in 1996, four nations including India challenged the Turtle Shrimp Law as a
restraint of trade. In 1998, the WTO, after a series of meetings that excluded experts
from non-governmental organizations, and despite the pleas of the worlds most
prominent marine biologists, ruled against the U.S. law. The State Department complied by
weakening the guidelines to allow shrimp imports on a shipment by shipment basis. A
lawsuit is pending to force a return to the stricter standards, arguing that the State
Departments appeasement of the WTO violated the intent of Congress in passing the
Turtle Shrimp Law.
As a result of the ruling, many nations refuse to adopt TEDs and continue to kill
thousands of endangered sea turtles. India, one of the complainants before the WTO, has
not adopted a TED law, permitting the killing of 13,000 turtles this year at one of the
most important nesting beaches in the world. The WTO ruling has eliminated the primary
incentive for India to improve its shrimping practices.
This is the third time, following earlier rulings against the Clean Air Act and
dolphin-safe tuna, that a WTO ruling has either weakened or wiped out important
environmental laws supported by the American people and elected officials. Unless the WTO,
which has set its sights on increasing its power, is abolished, it wont be the last
time.
Peter Fugazzotto, Sea Turtle Restoration Project
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