Turtle excluder device

Sea turtle escaping a shrimp net through a turtle excluder device
Loggerhead turtle exits a fishing net through a TED
Loggerhead sea turtle escapes through the excluder device
An example of a commercial turtle excluder device

A turtle excluder device (TED) is a specialized device that allows a captured sea turtle to escape when caught in a fisherman's net.

In particular, sea turtles can be caught when bottom trawling is used by the commercial shrimp fishing industry. In order to catch shrimp, a fine meshed trawl net is needed. This results in large amounts of other marine organisms being also caught as bycatch. When a turtle gets caught or entangled in a trawl net, it becomes trapped and is unable to return to the surface. Since sea turtles are air-breathing animals with lungs, they cannot survive long underwater without surfacing and will eventually drown.