On Wednesday night, twenty-two Olive Ridley Turtles were found dead on the shores of Chennai along the Bay of Bengal, India. This is in addition to the one hundred carcasses that have already washed up on Chennai’s shores over the past two weeks. Although gill nets and some other types of fishing have been prohibited by the government, the Students Sea Turtle Conservation Network (SSTCN) says fishermen are to blame.
While Olive Ridley Turtles local to the Pacific Coast of Mexico are listed as Endangered under the Endangered Species Act, those in other regions are only listed as Vulnerable – one step away from Endangered status – on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. This listing takes into account the status of the Olive Ridley on a global level, but this assessment is from 2008. And the Olive Ridley population has been plummeting.
The Southeastern coast of India, from Odisha down to Tamil Nadu, is one of the major breeding grounds for the Olive Ridley Turtles. Every year thousands of turtles migrate and come ashore for ‘arribada,’ a mass nesting of eggs. Because of this precious event, the Gahirmatha Beach in Odisha was declared a wildlife turtle sanctuary in 1997.
But trawl nets, gill nets, purse seine nets and pair nets continue to cause thousands of turtle deaths. They catch everything within reach, including species the fishermen aren’t legally allowed to catch. Considered bycatch, these animals – including turtles – are often killed or discarded as nonprofitable. As of 2014, 40% of the world’s global catch was bycatch.
That percentage is even worse for trawl nets. Roughly 8o% of what is caught in a trawl net is bycatch and turtles make up a large part of this. Shrimp trawlers have caused the death of more than 10,000 Olive Ridleys per year along the coast of Odisha from 1999-2006. In 1997-98 over 13,575 Olive Ridleys were found along the shore. In 2016, a record high 300 Olive Ridleys were found dead on the Puri Beach, Odisha. This was also attributed to trawlers. Often they die of suffocation as the nets are pulled along and they drown, unable to come up for a breath.
Erosion brought on by climate change has also claimed the lives of Olive Ridleys. As shore lines recede, previous nesting grounds are no longer viable. Turtles are creatures of habit, returning annually to their nesting grounds. In 2012 thousands of eggs were lost on a sand bar during high tide as the beach no longer had the same coastline the turtles had used before.
Protection on paper isn’t enough to save the Olive Ridley. The turtle is protected under the Wildlife Protection Act since 1972, the Migratory Species Convention (CMS), and the Convention of International Trade on Wildlife Flora and Fauna (CITES), and their numbers continue to drop. Effective conservation policy needs to be monitored once it’s enacted. A Turtle Excluding Device (TED) can help even large turtles escape nets. But fishermen complain that these life-saving devices lose them other catch, so they often won’t use them.
Conservation can’t work if it isn’t enforced. Dealing with erosion by confronting climate change is something that we already know must be done, and yet, despite increasing evidence, it’s often downplayed in enforcement and policy.
It isn’t enough to sit on the sidelines and take records as whole species plummet toward extinction, or even to write papers notifying governments and industry of what needs to be done. We need stronger fishing laws that actually get enforced, and we need to confront climate change head-on.
Things need to change!
Stronger fishing laws,along with enforcement .
Very sad and tragic — something MUST be done to protect them — create man-made Sanctuaries allowing nothing to interfere with these precious olive ridley turtle lives.
Gillnet fishing must be stopped. They are killing not only turtles but dolphins, whales, and many other species. Protection is not going to work if the laws are not enforced. We must remember these animals are not ours to kill. We must protect them. Don’t kill animals for any reason especially when you have control.
I agree with several comments here-all fishing along that coastline should be prohibited and a sanctuary declared. Also the fishermen MUST use the latest technologies if they are to do business-like the TED’s-they are NOT expensive and anyone who runs a decent business should have higher standards and ethics-no matter what! I am also disappointed in India! What would Gandhi say or do?? I used to think that India was more aware, enlightened and truly upheld higher morals, values for life-SADLY I have come to know that is NOT true!
Despite still being mainly a vegan country-they kill cows-ship them to be slaughtered and practice the same horrific abuse so many other countries do toward animals!
Can there be just ONE country that holds ALL life as SACRED!!??? GOD HELP US!!!!
I do not eat seafood due to the numerous threats our oceans face-the depletion of species, the plastics, POB’S, POP’S.PCB’s and mercury, etc found in ALL fish, dolphins, seals and whales!
We are supposed to be the MORE “intelligent, superior” species-yet I truly don’t think we are!!!
Go vegan -the only answer. All cruelty on animals must stop. All animals have the right to their own bodies and to their own lives. Stop all forms of cruelty and kills.
That’s not going to happen and you should be smart enough to know that. Those fishermen don’t give 2 cents about anything but making a buck.
I do not buy fish any more because of the over fishing and the plastic and Mercury in the fish,if a lot more people follow this there will be less fish caught and less fishermen
curious has a been started to show outrage and demand officials enforce the safety of the beloved turtles.
As a former member of Sea Shepard Conservation Society, It is a difficult task but, we must prevail. Or all will be lost.
The Galarneau family
Dear dear people please help.
Prohibit fishing in the Olive Ridley Turtle area. Humankind is responsible for so much destruction its sickening. We have have caused the extinction of so many animals its heart breaking and unnecessary.
Greedy, selfish people are repulsive. In this case it’s fishermen.
Cruelty and the love of money never ends.
Is anything being done? It’s frustrating to read articles with no way to help..
Perhaps fishing in the area where these turtles breed and are endangered should be outlawed or made illegal until the population comes back. Do these fishermen not care what they are doing to the environment in letting a species go extinct?! I’m appalled. Then, you wouldn’t have to rely on the lousy uncaring fishermen to return them to the sea, they wouldn’t be allowed there to begin with.
People should never be allowed to fish, many species would be thriving if that was the case.