Department of Homeland Security
United States Coast Guard
- District 8

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 20, 2005

COAST GUARD SEIZES 16,000 POUNDS OF SHRIMP

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration seized 16,000 pounds of shrimp from a fishing boat in the Gulf of Mexico today.

While on a fisheries patrol in the Gulf of Mexico Friday evening, the Coast Guard Cutter Steelhead, with a NOAA agent on board, located and boarded shrimp boat La Pachita. Upon inspecting the boats nets, the boarding crew discovered that the turtle excluder devices, also known as TEDs, were sewn shut.

Fishing or trawling with TEDs sewn shut is a violation of federal law under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and authorizes the boat's catch to be seized. Also seized were three prohibited Goliath groupers, and approximately 300 undersized red snappers.

The Steelhead escorted the boat to Port Aransas where the catch was offloaded and La Pachita's boat and crew were turned over to NOAA fisheries.

The Steelhead is an 87-foot patrol boat from Port Aransas, Texas.