Feds seek end to dredging limits that protect sea turtles
Source: Associated Press
Feds seek end to dredging limits that protect sea turtles
By RUSS BYNUM
an hour ago
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) -- The federal government is close to undoing a policy that for 30 years has protected rare sea turtles from being mangled and killed by machines used to suck sediments from shipping channels in four Southern states.
The Army Corps of Engineers is in charge of keeping U.S. waterways clear for boats and ships. Since 1991, the agency has suspended dredging of harbors in Georgia, the Carolinas and Florida during warmer months when sea turtles are most abundant in coastal waters and females lay eggs on Southern beaches.
But, in the coming weeks, the Army Corps plans to begin scrapping those seasonal limits, starting with Georgia, after the National Marine Fisheries Service concluded last year that sea turtles protected by the Endangered Species Act can likely endure roughly 150 deaths anticipated annually from year-round dredging.
Conservationists are sounding alarms, saying the federal government is downplaying the threat to sea turtles' long-term recovery while reversing a policy that has minimized the number of turtles crushed or dismembered after being sucked into dredges.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/savannah-georgia-us-news-dredging-turtles-a0c6d4ae67292ef8c9efb1256351cfe4
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The federal government is close to undoing a policy that for 30 years has protected rare sea turtles from being mangled and killed by machines used to maintain shipping channels.
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Poor turtles. 