
CHENNAI: The southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Friday took suo motu cognisance of the increase in deaths of Olive Ridley turtles along Chennai beaches, based on an article published by TNIE, and issued notices to the state fisheries and forest departments.
The death toll has crossed 500, with 30-odd new carcasses washed ashore between Marina Beach and Kovalam.
TNIE, during its visit to Injambakkam in the early hours of Friday, counted 11 dead turtles, some of which were being eaten by stray dogs before they were buried by members of the Tree Foundation’s Sea Turtle Protection Force (STPF).
Chennai Wildlife Warden Manish Meena said all possible measures are being taken to minimise the damage. Awareness programmes have been held at Kovalam and Kalpakkam to educate fishermen on using sustainable fishing gear. “Most of the carcasses being washed ashore are completely decomposed. However, we managed to retrieve a few relatively fresh ones, and Madras Veterinary College is conducting postmortem,” he said.
It is suspected that the carnage occurred between Kasimedu and the south Andhra coast, with the turtles getting trapped in the nets of large trawler vessels engaging in illegal commercial fishing very close to the shores.
As per the fisheries department’s Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) submitted to the Madras High Court in 2017, a ban is imposed on fishing by mechanised vessels, motorised country crafts, and those using mechanised techniques within a 5-nautical-mile radius during the potential nesting and breeding season of sea turtles (January to April) in the coastal areas of Chennai, Kancheepuram, Cuddalore, Villupuram, Nagapattinam, Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, and Kanniyakumari districts.
However, motorised country crafts with an engine capacity of 10 horsepower or below are permitted, provided ray fish nets are not used. A fisherman working on trawler vessels in Kasimedu told TNIE, “Due to extremely rough sea conditions, many vessels fished within 3–5 nautical miles. We prefer fishing near Pulicat and south Andhra because of the clearer water and better catch. This is because the coastal waters near Kovalam, Thiruvanmiyur, and Anna Memorial are filled with garbage.”
Moreover, none of the trawler fishing nets in Tamil Nadu are fitted with Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs), although this was mandated nearly a decade ago by the Madras High Court. The court had taken suo motu action in 2015 following similar mass mortality of turtles in Chennai.
Supraja Dharani, founder of Tree Foundation, said: “If the fisheries department strictly enforces the 5-nautical-mile ban and ensures TEDs are fitted to trawler fishing nets, the majority of the problems can be solved. The government should constructively engage with trawler vessel associations.”