Shrimpin' Ain't Easy (But It's Turtle-Friendly)
Mexican fishermen are taking steps to protect sea turtles. They're installing special devices on their shrimp trawlers to avoid catching turtles. This effort has led to the certification of Mexican shrimp for export to the US.
In the world of seafood, shrimp reigns supreme. It’s delicious, versatile, and more importantly, it’s big business. In Mexico, shrimp isn’t just a delicacy—it’s an economic lifeline for thousands of families. But shrimp trawling has an unintended by-product that is neither delicious nor economically sound—dead sea turtles.
Yes, amidst the creamy garlic sauces and sizzling platters, there’s the ugly truth that sea turtles, some of the ocean’s most ancient mariners, occasionally find themselves in shrimp nets. And this is a problem not just for the turtles but for Mexico's shrimp export industry, especially when the United States, a significant buyer, has stringent environmental standards.
