3,000 Turtles Found Dead Off Indian Coast
By ARCHANA MISHRA 01/08/2003 08:03:52 EST
Nearly 3,000 endangered Olive Ridley turtles have been found dead off India's east
coast, killed by fishing trawlers at the start of the nesting season, environmentalists
said Wednesday.
The annual mass nesting of the turtles did not take place early last year off the coast
of Orissa state because 16,000 of the creatures were killed. Activists say nesting is
endangered again this year because of illegal activity by fishermen.
"The blue-green waters of the Orissa coast are once again dotted with the dead bodies
of thousands of Olive Ridleys, thanks to illegal operation by hundreds of mechanized
fishing boats," said Biswajit Mohanty, secretary of the non-governmental Wildlife
Society of Orissa.
He said nearly 3,000 turtles had already been killed since the turtles began swimming
toward the shore in November at the start of their nesting season. Most were killed
after becoming caught in the trawlers' nets.
About 100,000 turtles have been killed during the past decade, the Wildlife Society
says.
Twelve trawlers were fishing on Dec. 31 within a mile of the coast and none had the
mandatory turtle excluder devices which enable the animals to escape the trawler
nets, Mohanty said.
Mohanty's group blames the state government for insufficient patrols to enforce the ban
on fishing within six miles of the coast during nesting season. Trawlers operating
farther out are required to have the turtle escape devices.
The 300-mile Orissa coast has many turtle nesting grounds, including the largest in
the world for the Olive Ridley.
Like tigers and elephants, Olive Ridley sea turtles are protected under India's Wildlife
Protection Act. Trapping or killing them is punishable by a jail term of up to six years.
Mohanty said there were few turtle deaths in November, but a sharp rise in December
and in the first week of January as the animals congregated near the shore before
heading to their nesting grounds.
The Olive Ridley turtle was listed as an endangered species in 1978, and while the
current population of the turtles is unknown, their numbers are believed to be
decreasing. |
