Carving of a small boat to protect sea turtles upheld by court (1)

On Friday, the D.C. Circuit upheld a rule exempting certain types of shrimp trawlers from using turtle escape devices, a loss for environmental groups that argued the new regulation would kill endangered sea turtles.

“The rule was reasonably explained and was a logical sequel to the proposal that preceded it,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said in an unpublished per curiam ruling.

Environmental groups in a 2021 lawsuit said the National Marine Fisheries Service abruptly changed course from a rule proposed in 2016 that suggested all shrimp trawlers should be required to use…