This heartbreaking photo shows a dead Kemp's ridley sea turtle stranded on a Mississippi beach this Spring. Photo courtesy of concerned local Shirley Tillman.

The Sea Turtle Restoration Project of the Turtle Island Restoration Network was featured in national news throughout the country today. The Associated Press interview below was part of a story covering our campaign to save Kemp's ridley sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico from commercial shrimp trawls that lack Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) or fail to use them properly.

Click here to download a copy of the AP article.

Click here to read the full press release with supporitng evidence documents that generated the Associated Press story. An excerpt of the article is below:

Feds eye tougher measures to protect sea turtles
By CAIN BURDEAU Associated Press © 2011 The Associated Press

Chris Pincetich, of the Turtle Island Restoration Network, said shrimpers were flouting the law and unwilling to take responsibility for the industry's toll on turtles. His group is involved in legal efforts to force the NMFS to better protect sea turtles.

He charged that shrimpers sometimes sew up the escape hatches for the turtles so they don't lose shrimp.

"The lack of oversight and enforcement of the laws have resulted in this tragic loss of life for these endangered species," he said. "We're hoping the shrimp industry is closed until the laws are followed."

All sea turtles in U.S. waters are listed as either threatened or endangered. The Kemp's ridley is endangered and many of the dead turtles found along the northern Gulf belong to that species.

Take action! Send a message to the National Marine Fisheries Service demanding increased enforcement of TEDs in the Gulf of Mexico to save sea turtles.