THE NATION - News from July 24, 1989

Shrimpers blocking shipping lanes off Texas and Louisiana yielded to traffic after the Coast Guard agreed to hear their complaints about regulations intended to protect an endangered species of sea turtle. “If something is not done, there’ll probably be violence,” said Marvin Hickman, a shrimper from Tarpon Springs, Fla. At issue is a Commerce Department rule requiring use of what the shrimpers say is a cumbersome and costly device to allow sea turtles to escape the nets. About 200 shrimp boats had crowded the deep-water channel at Galveston, Tex. About 300 others jammed access to the Port of Corpus Christi, and smaller ports in both states were blocked.