Forest officials ask fishermen to use Turtle Excluder Devices, seek cooperation of Fisheries Dept. to prevent Olive Ridley deaths

Forest Department urges fishermen to use Turtle Excluder Devices to save endangered Olive Ridley turtles in Andhra Pradesh.

Officials of the Forest Department in Vijayawada have appealed to the fishermen across the State to use Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) to save Olive Ridley turtles, which are endangered species and are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

As per the Marine Fishing Regulation Acts (MFRAs) in the maritime States of India, the usage of TED has been insisted for fishing nets of mechanised trawler vessels to allow sea turtles trapped in nets to escape.

The Forest Department officials wrote a letter to the Fisheries Department to take measures to fix TEDs for all mechanised boats in the State to protect the turtles.

Release of effluents into the rivers and sea, and treated water from industries was also killing sea turtles, said Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Addl. PCCF-Wildlife) Shanti Priya Pandey.

“More than 1.50 lakh fishermen and about 20,000 mechanised and motorised boats are there in the State. But, fishermen are not fitting TEDs citing poor catch,” say officials.

“The mother turtle comes back to the same beach where it was born. The sea turtle lays about 250 eggs during the nesting season, between November to May every year. There are many turtle nesting spots in Andhra Pradesh,” the Wildlife Additional PCCF told The Hindu on Tuesday.

If the pregnant turtle gets entangled in the fishing net, it will be impossible to escape due to its weight and dies. Many gravid turtles were dying after getting trapped in nets, she said.