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Page 12-C—THE BRUNSWICK BEACON, Thursday, October 8, 1987
Lcxal Netmaker
Takes Aim On
National Controversy
Supply netmaker Steve Parrish has walked right in
to the center of a national fishing controversy.
It’s caUed the turtle excluder device (TED), and
it’s an aluminum and web box sewn into shrimp nets
that helps endangered sea turtles escape the nets and
avoid drowning.
North Carolina shrimpers must start iLsing TEDs
by May 1,1988, or face possible penalty. The season will
run from May 1 through Aug. 1. The devices, intended to
protect turtles, have pitted fishermen against en-
vironmentali.sts.
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) regula
tions require shrimp trawlers 25 feet or longer to use
TEDs in offshore waters from North Carolina to Texas.
Additionaily, captains of shrimp boats less than 25
feet long shrimping in offshore waters and ail inshore
shrimpers must limit their towing time to 90 minutes
unless they pull a TED.
Four types of TEDs have been officially approved
by the NMFS so far. They arc the NMFS-designed TED,
the more ova! Cameron TED with two deflector grids!
the Matagorda TED and the Georgia TED.
Enter Steve Parrish, designer of a soft, all-web
TED which is less bulky, simpler in design and schedul
ed to be tested by the NMFS Oct. 12 at Cape Canaveral
Fla.
If all goes well, Parrish said his TED should pass
the test, which requires that turtle catches be reduced
by 97 percent.
He explained that the testing will most likely in
clude a control net with no TED, and another net with
his TED attached. Parish anticipates that when the con
trol net captures 20 to 25 turtles and his net captures
none, the NMFS will certify tlie Parrish TED.
Parrish’s turtle excluder follows Uie oidy re-
staff PHOlOev DOUG RUtUR
NETMAKER STEVE PARRISH works on his soft all-
web turtle excluder device (TED). The National
Marine Fisheries Service is scheduled to test Parrish’s
design Oct. 12 at Cape Canaveral, Fla.
quircments set by the NMFS, that there be a 35-inch
opening for turtles to escape and that the maximum
width between any metal bars Ik* four inches.
The difference in his Parrish TED bes not only in
the soft web material, but in the fact that turtles are ex
cluded out the bottom of the device, while other devices
exclude the turtle out the top or side.
“There is no way you can roll something heavy
uphill like that.” explained Parrish. “It is much easier
to shoot the turtle out the bottom because he will just
naturally float down. It’s ju.st really common sense that
the opening should be on the bottom.”
He said he has tested his turtle excluder in the nets
of two Holden Beach shrimpers, William Vamum and
Junior Fulford, and has yet to catch a turtle.
He added, "Sometimes you can go a whole month
without catching a turtle, so it’s hard to say how good it
really works.”
While it’s effectiveness with turtles may yet be un
proven, Parrish said the excluder device definitely
reduces extraneous catches.
“It has cut down on the amount of trash you usually
find in the nets,” said Parrish. He explained that
shrimpers usually net truck tires, railroad ties, large
rocks and “any other trash you can imagine.”
“It has also cut down on the by-catch and jelly
balls, and we’re really not losing too many shrimp with
this device,” he said.
Possible reduction of their shrimp catch
(southeastern shrimpers netted more than 325 million
shrimp in 1986 with a value of $600 million) is one of the
objections raised by shrimpers to the use of TEDS,
along with the added cost of the devices.
The NMFS TED costs $350, and with some
shrimpers pulling four nets and needing a spare, the
cost could reach $2,000.
“This TED,” said Parrish of his own creation, “is
something that can get rid of your turtles, but it’s not so
big and cumbersome that the shrimpers won’t use it
He concluded, “It may be something both groups
can agree on.”
Fishermen To Go After Four Species In BCFC Jamboree
nnt nno ttrill i_ ^ «...
Four species, not one, will lie
mrgeted by anglers in the Brunswick
t ounty I' i.shing Chib’s second annual
Jamboree Fishing Tournament Oct.
17 at Sunset Harbor.
The tournament is open to
members and non-members of the
club, one of the state’s largc.st salt
water fishing organizations.
First place awards for the largest
king, the largest Spanish, the largest
flounder and the greatest aggregate
weight of 10 black bass will each be 15
percent of the entry fees. Second
place in each category is worth 5 per
cent of the entry fees.
Comer, fishing will start at 6 a.m.
and continues through .3 p.m. Fishing
will be by rod and reel, with all en
tries meeting state and federal
species limits.
Fishermen will win prizes for
flounder, black bass, Spanish
mackcral and king mackeral. In this
fledgling event, prizes will be percen
tages of the entrj’ fees paid, rather
than a fixed sum.
A $40 entry fee is charged per boat
and one person on each boat must be
a member of the fishing club
(Memberships are $5 per person).
Entry fees must be paid by 9 p.m.
Oct. 16, following the 8 p.m. captains*
meeting at the clubhouse at Sunset
Harbor.
According to Chairman Roger
All boats with fish must be in line at
the weigh station by 3:30 p.m. All fish
must be brought to the Sunset Harbor
boat ramp by boat and entered by a
club member. The fish will be weigh
ed in at the clubhouse and become
the club’s property.
tie, prizes will be divided.
Prote.sLs must be accompanied by
a $100 deposit and filed by 5 p.ni.
Saturday; decisions of the tourna
ment conunittee are final. Entries
are subject to torr>- meter te.sting.
The weather day will be Sunday,
Oct. 18.
The tournament was originally
scheduled for I.;ilKir Day weekend,
but was reset bccaii.se of rain.
Entries submitted before the caj)-
tain’s meeting should be mailed to
the Brunswick County Fishing Club.
Route 1, Box 245A, Bolivia, NC 28422.
Required are the name of the cap
tain, .social security number, ad
dress, boat name, Iwat length, state
of boat registry and the captain’s
signature, accompanied by a check
payable to the club.
Prizes will be awarded at a fish fry
that night and are limited to one ma
jor prize per boat. In the event of a
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