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BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana’s governor says the state will help inshore shrimpers buy turtle escape hatches that will be required next year in the Gulf of Mexico and southeastern Atlantic.

Gov. John Bel Edwards said Tuesday that the $250,000 program will pay up to 60% of the cost for two of the sets of metal bars. Such “turtle excluder devices,” or TEDs, have been required since the late 1980s for big offshore shrimp trawlers.

Starting April 1, they’ll be required on many skimmer nets to protect juvenile turtles growing up inshore. Boats less than 40 feet long don’t need the devices.

The state estimates that 600 to 700 Louisiana boats will need TEDs.