BRUNSWICK - Emergency restrictions on shrimp trawling came to the rescue of some endangered sea turtles, a state expert said Monday. <br>
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The 30-day ban, which ended Sunday, prevented shrimpers from dragging at night in federal waters from Cape Fear, N.C., to St. Augustine, Fla. Shrimpers also were required to equip their nets with devices designed to allow even the largest sea turtles to escape. <br>
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The turtles loggerheads, leatherbacks and Kemp's ridley drown after they become trapped in the shrimping nets. Last year, 178 dead turtles washed up on Georgia beaches, wildlife officials said. <br>
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More than 90 turtles were found dead within a two-week period in May, prompting the ban. Georgia waters opened for shrimping June 12. <br>
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During the restrictions, 56 turtles were found dead, an average of 14 a week, said Mark Dodd, sea turtle coordinator for the Wildlife Resources Division of the state Natural Resources Department. That number is about average for this time of year, he said. <br>
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Officials blamed most of the earlier turtle deaths on large shrimp boats from the Gulf of Mexico. They have larger nets than most Georgia boats and, until the ban, shrimped all night. Turtle experts doubt the problem will repeat itself. Dodd said most of the king-sized shrimp boats are expected to move to Texas within two weeks, when shrimp season opens there July 5. <br>
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John Wallace, president of the Georgia Shrimp Association, said Georgia shrimpers aren't to blame for the turtle deaths. He said he has been pulling the same gear for 20 years and has never caught a turtle. <br>
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``Turtles could be dying from natural causes, but the shrimpers are taking the blame for a lot of the stuff they can't prove,'' he said. ``Nature is going to take care of itself.'' <br>
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Studies indicate that the number of nesting turtles in Georgia is declining by an average of 3 percent a year. <br>
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