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| US SENATE RATIFIES INTER-AMERICAN CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION AND CONSERVATION OF SEA TURTLES |
9/21/2000: WASHINGTON--This day, the United States Senate ratified the Inter-American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles. President Clinton is expected to sign this into law shortly.
The treaty becomes effective when ratified by 8 of the original 12 signatory nations. Six nations have already ratified -- Brazil (22 November, 1999), Costa Rica (17 April, 2000), Ecuador (29 August, 2000), Mexico (11 September, 2000), Peru (15 November, 1999) and Venezuela (20 August, 1998). Now that the USA will soon be added to the list, only 1 of the remaining 5 countries Nicaragua, Uruguay, Belize, Netherlands and Honduras needs to ratify for the Convention to go into effect. This is expected to occur within the next few months.
Nations that sign the treaty will require that all their shrimping fleets use nets fitted with Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDS). These are simple, inexpensive but effective devices that allow sea turtles to escape if trapped within a net.
Story by Michael J. Connor
Previous story on CTTC's Turtle Action News
Background and text of the treaty http://www.seaturtle.org/iac
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