Incidental Catch of Sea Turtles Along the Indian Coast

Rajagopalan, M and Vivekanandan, E and Balan, K and Kurup, K N (2000) Incidental Catch of Sea Turtles Along the Indian Coast. In: The Fifth Indian Fisheries Forum Proceedings, 17-20 January, 2000, Bhubaneswar, Orissa.

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Abstract

In recent years, there is concern on the large scale mortality of sea turtles due to incidental catch in fishing operations along the lndian coast resulting in conflict between conservationists and fishing communities. Along the Indian coast, 3190 and 2605 turtles were incidentally caught by fishing gears during 1997 and 1998, respectively. In addition to this, 5000 sea turtles, especially the olive ridley Lepidochelys olivacea were incidentally caught during the mass nesting months along the Orissa coast. Gillnets accounted for 60.1 % of the catch and the trawls for 13.1 % only. To reduce the mortality due to incidental catch, two options, namely closure of fishing during mass nesting period and attachment of Turtle Excluder Device (TED) to the trawl nets are suggested. The advantages and disadvantages of the options are suggested.

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