On a sunny day in January, A. Prakash, 40, sits on a ship in Kovalam, off the East Coast Highway (ECR) in Chengalpattu district of Tamil Nadu. He has simply returned from a fishing journey the place he noticed 10 Olive Ridley sea turtle carcasses floating within the sea. “We (fisherfolk) have been seeing many such carcasses each day for the reason that starting of the yr,” he says, perturbed.
Prakash factors to an aged lady close by, who comes to select up a basket of tiger prawns from the boat, and says her son helps the Forest Division bury the carcasses. Putting the basket deftly on her head, Rani, 65, says, “My son simply buried six and got here residence drained and hungry.”
Within the Chennai and Chengalpattu districts, situated alongside the 1,076 kilometre-long shoreline of Tamil Nadu, many individuals recall seeing lifeless Olive Ridley sea turtles washed ashore this yr. C. Gnanasekar, 44, a fisherman from Uthandi, off ECR, noticed 4 of them within the first week of January. Rajiv Rai, 69, from Injambakkam in Chennai, says he has seen about 80 for the reason that first week of the yr. Maria, a nature fanatic, says she noticed 24 at Nemmeli Kuppam in Chengalpattu.
Olive Ridley turtles, that are present in hotter waters, such because the southern Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, haul themselves up on to India’s jap shore yearly by the tens of 1000’s and lay eggs in an occasion often called arribada (arrival by sea in Spanish). Whereas Odisha is a mass nesting web site for Olive Ridley turtles in India, 1000’s of those small wild animals additionally come sporadically to nest between December and April alongside the Tamil Nadu shoreline, a lifeline for thousands and thousands who rely upon fishing for his or her livelihood. The biodiverse and eco-sensitive Gulf of Mannar, situated off the districts of Thoothukudi and Ramanathapuram within the south, is an important feeding web site for these turtles. The creatures then migrate to Odisha, West Bengal, and past.
Alongside the 34-km coast from the Marina Seaside in Chennai to Kovalam in Chengalpattu, seeing lifeless sea turtles on the shore throughout mating season will not be uncommon — yearly, a mean of 350 lifeless turtles may be discovered, says Shravan Krishnan, a volunteer with the College students Sea Turtle Conservation Community (SSTCN). Nevertheless, this yr, till January 31, conservationists had counted 1,200 lifeless sea turtles, greater than 3 times the traditional determine. The Tamil Nadu Forest Division offered a extra conservative estimate (706 turtles till January 23). The Division has refused to supply numbers since then.
Alongside the 34-kilometre coast from the Marina Seaside in Chennai to Kovalam in Chengalpattu, seeing lifeless sea turtles on the shore throughout mating season will not be an uncommon phenomenon, however the quantity this yr has been unprecedented.
| Picture Credit score:
R. Ravindran
To make issues worse, the variety of sea turtle nests alongside the shores has been unusually low. “Most turtles that have been to nest have died. All of the lifeless feminine turtles we bury have eggs of their our bodies,” says Gnanasekar, who has been working with the TREE Basis, a marine conservation organisation, for twenty years.
Visitors from the ocean
Olive Ridleys are the smallest of the seven sea turtle species. They weigh as much as 45 kilogrammes and attain solely about 2 toes in shell size. Their title comes from their olive-coloured carapaces (onerous higher shells). Although their numbers have remained steady in recent times, Olive Ridleys stay a key species in world conservation efforts and are categorised ‘weak’ by the Worldwide Union for Conservation of Nature Purple Checklist.
Sea turtles play an important function within the marine ecosystem. By feeding on crustaceans that dwell on the seabed, they assist launch the oxygen that’s trapped there. They keep wholesome seagrass ranges by nibbling on seagrass and algae. They supply shelter for commercially vital fish species and management jellyfish populations that would in any other case hurt fish larvae.
In Tamil Nadu, conservationists and fisherfolk consult with Olive Ridley turtles as “visitors” and even “god”. For fishermen reminiscent of A. Palayam, 62, from Urur Kuppam in Besant Nagar in Chennai, sea turtles have a cultural and religious significance. “Our kutti amma (little mom) is vital for us,” he says. Along with the creature’s cultural significance, fisherfolk view sea turtles as an emblem of a wholesome ecosystem.
Yearly, Olive Ridleys pore out of the ocean, crowd the shore, give start, after which wait to be swept into the ocean once more. Referring to this, R. Sankari, 37, a resident of Nemmeli, says, “The turtles are just like the daughters of our village. They arrive again to their residence to have youngsters.” Sankari says she has been seeing an unusually excessive variety of lifeless turtles this nesting season.
In Chennai, one of many few metropolitan cities in India the place these sea turtles come to nest, it’s not simply fisherfolk who communicate passionately about turtles; conservationists and college students sport T-shirts urging individuals to save lots of turtles and set off at midnight in the course of the nesting season to scour darkish sands for eggs.
Abhishaek, 24, a volunteer with SSTCN, and his friends patrol two stretches of the coast between the Cooum estuary and Neelankarai each evening within the nesting season. As they stroll, they seek for tracks left by the turtles and comply with them. After they come throughout a particular clearing, they use a ‘probe’, a protracted hole rod, to verify for nests. In the event that they discover eggs, they rigorously gather them and measure the nest’s dimensions to recreate the circumstances in hatcheries, earlier than persevering with their stroll. “Working with a group that cares a lot about sea turtles has formed my curiosity in wildlife conservation. Sea turtles are an enormous a part of my life,” he says.
Abhishaek, who has spent 4 years with SSTCN, says the crew hardly discovered nests within the first three weeks of January. “Usually, we discover about 30 nests. However this yr, we may discover solely two,” he says.
Nets of destruction
By the top of January, conservationists and authorities in Andhra Pradesh additionally started to note that the variety of lifeless turtles was increased than regular. C. Selvam, Conservator of Forests within the Tirupati Circle of the Andhra Pradesh Forest Division, says the issue will not be confined to Tamil Nadu. Supraja Dharini, founding father of the TREE Basis who additionally works with the Andhra Pradesh Forest Division, says at the least 2,032 turtles had died till January 26 within the State.
Dharini says one of many major threats to sea turtles is backside trawling and the widespread use of fishing gear, reminiscent of gill nets. The Tamil Nadu Marine Fishing Regulation Act, 1983, stipulates that trawl boats ought to function past 5 nautical miles (roughly 9.26 km) from the shore. This zone is reserved for artisanal fishermen utilizing smaller boats. “Nevertheless, regardless of rules, many industrial fishermen proceed to violate these guidelines,” Dharini says. “When trawl boats usually encroach into restricted areas, it will increase the chance of turtle entanglement and dying.”
R. Suresh Kumar, a wildlife biologist on the Wildlife Institute of India, explains that turtles don’t simply go to nesting seashores however congregate in particular areas earlier than nesting. “Damaging fishing practices reminiscent of trawling and gill netting in these aggregation zones might be a big issue within the rise in deaths,” he says.
Acknowledging the dangerous results of trawling, Ok. Bharathi, president of the South Indian Fishermen Welfare Affiliation, says those that violate the regulation ought to be penalised. Nevertheless, the federal government has failed to supply any viable alternate options to industrial fishing, he provides.
After information studies of the excessive variety of turtle deaths emerged, the Tamil Nadu authorities fashioned a activity power headed by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden, Rakesh Kumar Dogra. On January 27, the duty power determined to strengthen rules on trawl fishing, implement using Turtle Excluder Units (TEDs), and limit the horsepower of boat engines.
TEDs are metallic grids designed to permit turtles to flee from trawl nets. However fisherfolk have expressed issues that these units may scale back their catch. A fisherman engaged on a mechanised boat in Kasimedu explains that with dwindling assets within the ocean, even a small fall in catch can have a big affect on his income. “There have been no efforts from the Fisheries Division to introduce improved TED fashions or compensate fishermen for the months they’re required to make use of them,” he says.
Kumar refutes this. He says TEDs don’t end in vital catch loss. He explains that bigger fish sometimes don’t journey in colleges and should not usually caught in trawl nets.
The federal government has additionally elevated joint patrols involving the Fisheries Division, Forest Division, Indian Coast Guard, and Marine Police. In accordance with Dogra, long-term research and monitoring, together with telemetry analysis, will even start quickly. Plans have additionally been put in place to contain police authorities in monitoring and addressing trawler violations.
In the meantime, the Southern Bench of the Nationwide Inexperienced Tribunal took suo motu discover of the difficulty on January 18 and criticised the Tamil Nadu authorities for failing to manage trawlers and implement using TEDs regardless of earlier orders.
The surge in turtle deaths additionally coincided with an unusually tough monsoon season. Fishermen report that the seas have been notably turbulent because the north-east monsoon of 2024 endured effectively past its regular final date of December 31, as per the India Metereological Division.
Palayam argues that it’s not honest to put the blame solely on fishermen. He has been monitoring currents and wind patterns each day since 2018 and notes that this season has been uncommon. “Through the onset of the Tamil Thai month, the ocean is usually calm. However that hasn’t been the case this yr. The olini (easterly) present may push objects again to the shore, which may clarify how lifeless carcasses from Andhra Pradesh might be washing ashore in Chennai,” he says.
A collaborative effort
Kartik Shanker, an ecologist and creator of From Soup to Famous person: The Story of Sea Turtle Conservation Alongside the Indian Coast, believes that lots of the rules which might be vital to guard turtles are already coated by fisheries legal guidelines; the problem lies in bettering compliance with the engagement of all stakeholders, particularly conventional fishermen.
Alongside the 34-kilometre coast from the Marina Seaside in Chennai to Kovalam in Chengalpattu, seeing lifeless sea turtles on the shore throughout mating season will not be an uncommon phenomenon, however the numbers this yr have been unprecedented.
| Picture Credit score:
B. Jothi Ramalingam
Shanker additionally factors out {that a} particular concentrate on turtle conservation can typically be counterproductive, resulting in conflicts between sectors. “Sea turtle populations are growing in lots of components of the world, together with on the east coast, however we have to make fishing rules efficient for the integrity of coastal ecosystems as a result of backside trawling is a harmful follow. Trawling tends to tear up the seafloor, inflicting injury to the whole habitat, not simply turtles,” he says.
Kumar says defending essential turtle habitats may profit native fishermen. “After we safe areas for turtles, it’s not simply good for conservation, but in addition helps the livelihoods of artisanal fishermen, who don’t go enterprise deep into the ocean,” he says.
This isn’t a simple activity, he provides. “The Tamil Nadu Forest Division should collaborate carefully with fishermen, whereas the Fisheries Division must take a extra critical strategy to understanding the place and what kind of fishing is happening,” he says.
The stress on the marine business is immense, with calls for for each native consumption and exports. “We have to conduct monitoring research particular to this coast. We are able to’t simply replicate what works in different areas,” Kumar insists.
Selvam requires a extra unified strategy that features figuring out key mating and congregation areas within the sea. This technique ought to contain the Fisheries Division and native communities extra carefully, he says. Nevertheless, the division has restricted assets and manpower, which makes it tough to implement rules successfully. Monitoring such huge ocean areas can also be a logistical problem. “Collaboration between fishermen, conservation teams, and using technological instruments like apps to trace turtle exercise will likely be essential,” he says.
Fishermen level out that along with trawlers, gill nets, and squid nets, the ocean turtles face vital threats from the plastic waste that floods the ocean. “Why can’t the federal government construct a construction to forestall plastics from coming into the ocean,” asks Gnanasekar.
Palayam additionally raises issues concerning the rising variety of onerous buildings, reminiscent of groynes, being constructed alongside Tamil Nadu’s sandy seashores, which injury the nesting habitats.
“Over time, now we have seen that when the turtles come to nest, they discover the sand polluted and return with out nesting,” says Abhishaek.
Saving the turtles is about safeguarding the way forward for each the ocean and the individuals who depend on it. Sankari says, “I bear in mind my father providing prayers if a sea turtle by chance obtained caught in his internet. He wouldn’t exit to sea for a day. If the turtles are in bother, how will we survive?”
geetha.srimathi@thehindu.co.in
Printed – February 08, 2025 02:30 am IST
