CHENNAI: With more than 1,300 carcasses of Olive Ridleys washing ashore, including 1,111 along Chennai’s coast this nesting season, Tamil Nadu is stepping up efforts to protect Olive Ridleys by launching telemetry studies to track their movements and identify key congregation sites during nesting season. This decision, aimed at reducing high turtle mortality, was made during a high-level meeting chaired by Forest Minister K Ponmudy, at the Secretariat on Friday.
The Wildlife Institute of India will conduct the studies to map turtle migration patterns and nesting areas, helping authorities focus on protection measures where turtles gather most. While the mortality rate spiked in January, joint efforts by the Forest Department, Fisheries, Coastal Security Group, Coast Guard, and NGOs have now brought it down and nesting has increased.
A key decision was to involve fishermen in conservation of the endangered turtles. The government will also launch education programmes to make them stakeholders, promoting sustainable fishing practices.
The use of Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) in fishing nets will be strictly enforced. “So far, subsidies were cancelled to 208 trawl boat owners for violating norms. We need to protect the turtles as well as the fishermen,” Ponmudy said. Local bodies were directed to keep nesting beaches clean, free from garbage and illegal construction. Stray dog population near the beaches will be controlled. Volunteers, already active in turtle conservation, will expand their role to conduct community surveys, boosting awareness and support, said Additional Chief Secretary Supriya Sahu.