Why are Olive Ridley turtles dying? A crisis of conservation & overfishing

Over 3,000 turtles died in Andhra Pradesh and the toll in Chennai crossed 1,200. Yet, the governments are reluctant to enforce the norms. The National Green Tribunal is pushing both states to take action,
Why are Olive Ridley turtles dying? A crisis of conservation & overfishing
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CHENNAI: The Olive Ridley turtle, a species revered for its unique mass nesting phenomenon known as arribada, is facing a grave threat along India’s east coast. Despite being protected under Schedule 1 of India’s Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 — a status that places it on par with the tiger — the species is increasingly falling victim to human activities, particularly mechanised fishing practices. This year, thousands of turtles are washing ashore dead, their lifeless bodies bearing the scars of a relentless battle against unsustainable fishing and habitat destruction.

The east coast - particularly the states of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu - is a critical habitat for Olive Ridley turtles. The Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary in Odisha, for instance, is the world’s largest nesting site for the species. However, the very waters that serve as their breeding grounds have become a death trap due to the unchecked proliferation of mechanised trawlers and gillnets.

Mechanised trawlers, which drag large nets across the ocean floor, are one of the biggest culprits behind their rising mortality. These nets are not selective; they capture everything in their path, including turtles, which often get entangled and drown. Trawlers operating along the east coast are responsible for a significant number of turtle deaths each year.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that many trawlers operate illegally within the 5-10 km coastal zone, which is a no-fishing zone to protect breeding grounds. Despite regulations, enforcement remains weak, and trawlers continue to flout the rules with impunity.

In Tamil Nadu, for instance, the Chennai coastline has witnessed a disturbing number of turtle deaths. Its beaches from Marina to Kovalam are rotting with dead carcasses. Even burying them has become laborious for volunteers and forest department personnel.

So far, Chennai has recorded over 1,200 deaths and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh has reported over 3,000 carcasses. NGOs, forest department and beach goers say they have not seen anything like this before.

Trawlers alone responsible?

There is a big debate on what is causing such high mortality. Are trawlers alone responsible for the deaths? Or is there more to it? Fishermen claim hundreds of dead turtles are floating in the deep sea as well, where the ocean is too deep for trawlers to entangle turtles in large numbers.

However, the experts affirm that trawl nets are the primary cause and it is visibly evident. The bulging eyes and swollen necks suggests the turtles died due to drowning. Tamil Nadu Chief Wildlife Warden Rakesh Kumar Dogra confirmed to TNIE, quoting postmortem reports, that turtles are dying due to flooding of their lungs.

Turtle expert K Sivakumar, member of the Marine Protected Areas Commission in IUCN, which radio-tagged about 60 Olive Ridleys in Odisha and Sri Lanka, told TNIE, "I suspect intensive trawling has been done 'unknowingly' in congregation areas, where females and males come together for mating around this time. This might have resulted in mass mortality. If drowning is the cause, there is no doubt turtles are getting entangled in fishing nets and dying."

Studies undertaken by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and co-authored by Sivakumar, say Olive Ridleys remain along the Orissa coast till May, gradually starting the post-nesting migration to Sri Lanka via, Andhra coast during June and July and thereafter into the northern Tamil Nadu and eastern Sri Lanka coast and remain on the east coast of Sri Lanka from September to November largely foraging. They tend to start their return migration to Orissa coast during early November, some of them reaching the off shore waters of Orissa by November-end and early December. Migration and movement of the long distance moving marine turtle is better studied using satellite telemetry techniques.

Turtles tagged along the coasts of southern and western Sri Lanka moved towards west of Sri Lanka and even reached Maldives, west coast of Kerala and also nested in one of islands of Gulf of Mannar National Park. Results showed that there are a minimum of two different populations of sea turtles using Sri Lanka waters. One population moves towards Orissa coast for mass nesting and another population moves towards Maldives and Lakshadweep Islands for sporadic nesting or foraging.

R Suresh Kumar, turtle expert from WII, said turtles congregate in large numbers close to the shore. There are techniques like boat surveys to identify these areas and protect them."

To a query, Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and author of several IPCC reports, said there isn't anything very unusual in the ocean. The sea surface temperature in the Bay of Bengal close to the east coast is warmer than usual, but not exceptionally warm. It is just over one degree Celsius anomaly. "The data shows a relatively strong coastal current from north to south."

Experts said due to the extended Northeast monsoon and disturbances near Odisha coast, the turtle mass migration might have been slightly altered and coincided with intensive trawling, causing such mortality.

Too little, too late?

In July 2013, the Tamil Nadu government sanctioned the provision of 500 Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) for conservation of sea turtles. It supplied 20 TEDs to fishermen in Chennai and Nagapattinam divisions in 2014-15. The Wildlife Warden, Chennai issued a Rs 15.66 lakh work order in December 2015 for fabrication and supply of 231 TEDs made of stainless steel to a contractor. The TEDs were distributed in eight districts.

The scrutiny of records by CAG observed that 231 TEDs were issued to the implementing divisions. Of them, 117 TEDs were issued to the four test checked districts. But only 51 TEDs were issued to fishermen in Cuddalore district; the rest remained with the implementing divisions. "Ineffective pursuance to procure the entire quantity of TEDs sanctioned and to distribute the procured quantity in full resulted in non-achievement of the objective of preserving the endangered sea turtles," the CAG report said.

When contacted, K Mohammed Koya, Fisheries Development Commissioner, Department of Fisheries in Government of India, told TNIE that a decision has been taken to make TEDs mandatory for the trawlers in the country and its usage will be linked to the subsidies. "An indigenous TED has been designed and field tested by the Marine Products Exports Development Authority (MPEDA) and Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT), which has cleared the standards and specifications set by the US. Shortly these TEDs will be rolled out in the market. The Union fisheries ministry is also contemplating to provide full/partial subsidy for fishermen to procure the TEDs in consultation with the State governments."

Migratory routes of mass nesting turtles of Odisha coast using satellite techniques by the Wildlife Institute of
India, and their feeding areas in India ( black dots) and Sri Lanka ( red dots)
Migratory routes of mass nesting turtles of Odisha coast using satellite techniques by the Wildlife Institute of India, and their feeding areas in India ( black dots) and Sri Lanka ( red dots)

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