Experimental Shrimp Trawl Bycatch Reduction Device
For more information, please contact sustainable fisheries at (727) 824-5305
The exempted fishing permit (EFP) would exempt, with certain conditions, the applicant from federal bycatch reduction device (BRD) requirements. The primary goal of the project is to gauge industry acceptance of the Nested Cylinder BRD (NCBRD). Successful NMFS at-sea BRD certification trials were completed in December 2016, as prescribed in the BRD Testing Protocol Manual. Under this EFP, cooperating Gulf shrimp fishermen would be provided a new NCBRD to gauge their acceptance ahead of final administrative certification. Issuance of the EFP would allow fishermen to replace an existing certified BRD with the NCBRD in one outboard net during normal fishing operations, to provide a side-by-side comparison. All trawls under tow during the evaluations must be equipped with approved turtle excluder devices.
Exempted Fishing Permit Application
Application of a New Bycatch Reduction Device For Use in the U.S. Shrimp Industry
Exempted Fishing Permit
Coming Soon!
More Information
- Notice, 84 FR 25535
- FB19-031 NOAA Fisheries Seeks Comments on an Application for an Exempted Fishing Permit to Test an Experimental Shrimp Trawl Bycatch Reduction Device in Gulf of Mexico* Federal Waters
- Sustainable Fisheries in the Gulf of America
Gulf of America Exempted Fishing Permits
*Executive Order 14172, “Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness” (Jan. 20, 2025), directs that the Gulf of Mexico be renamed the Gulf of America. On August 7, 2025, NOAA Fisheries and the National Ocean Service amended regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations to reflect the renaming. The name change did not result in any changes to, and had no effect on the applicability or enforceability of, any existing regulations. This website continues to use “Gulf of Mexico” when quoting statutes or previously published materials.