Shrimpers Force Suspension of Law

WASHINGTON — With hundreds of angry shrimpers threatening to renew their blockade of Gulf of Mexico ports, Commerce Secretary Robert A. Mosbacher agreed Monday to suspend a new requirement that shrimp boats be equipped with devices to keep sea turtles from becoming ensnared in the nets.

The agreement, reached during an emergency meeting between Mosbacher and Gulf Coast congressmen, placed an immediate 45-day moratorium on enforcement of the federal law.

Just last Thursday, Mosbacher had ordered that the controversial law be enforced after an earlier suspension.

The shrimpers say that the turtle-excluding devices cause them to lose as much as 40% of their catch; conservationists say the rule is necessary to save an endangered species of sea turtle.

Mosbacher announced the plan after meeting with about two dozen congressmen from Gulf states. He said the suspension would allow a “cooling-off period.”