Bengaluru, India (AP) – Dead Sea Turtles They continue to arrive on the coasts of India and environmentalists and authorities desperately try to prevent the figure of 600 dead increase even more.
The high number of turtle deaths in Chennai, in southern India, is most likely due to overfishing off the coast, which may be accidentally trapping to turtles in networks, experts say, which generated debates and anger In the region on how deaths could be avoided. But fishermen say that the hardest conditions, from warmer waters to higher operating costs, have cornered them. Government officials inside and outside the coast say they have intensified their surveillance of illegal fishing since large amounts of dead turtles began to reach the coast.
It is the largest number of marine turtles since 2014, when more than 900 golf turtles were found dead on the coast of southern India.
Fishermen blame the warmest and most stirred waters
The fishermen of the city say that strong winds and turbulent waters have more expensive and hindered traveling too far from the coast.
“With the increase in fuel costs, we have to spend about 500,000 rupees ($ 5,784) every time we send our drag ships,” Me Raghupathi, a Chennai resident who has been in the fishing business for 52 years. “We worship the turtles and it also hurts that they are dying so many, but we must also keep our families,” he said.
Raghupathi, former president of a State Association of drag ships, said that the technology used in ships and networks was designed by research organizations backed by the Government. But those designs have not been improved since the 1960s.
“We will be delighted to use any new technology that can help prevent the death of these turtles if they provide it,” he said.
Another fisherman, K. Bharathi, said that fish in this region of Bengal Bay have decreased exponentially in recent decades due to water heating due to climate change and excessive fishing.
“The fish we used to see here 25 years ago are no longer there, and this is the main reason why even the large drag ships reach areas where they should not,” he said. “Measures to increase fishery resources, such as the installation of artificial coral reefs can help avoid this competition and also indirectly help protect turtles.”
Multiple studies Climate scientists have discovered that the most intense, unpredictable and frequent cyclones risks have increased along the Indian coast as a result of global warming.
Protected turtles in paper but not in practice
In 2016, a local government order was approved to prevent drag ships from launching giant networks that sweep everything at the bottom of the ocean to approach five nautical miles on the coast during the turtle nesting season. The law also requires devices known as turtle excluding devices, which can help turtles escape from networks.
And government officials inside and outside the coast have intensified the activities to protect turtles in recent weeks, said Manish Meena, the city’s wild guardian.
“We are all on maximum alert and we are also trying to sensitize fishermen to free the turtles that are trapped in their networks. All government agencies are on board and are trying to work together to deal with this situation, ”he said.
Meena said the authorities are also promoting the use of turtle excluding devices, made of metal bars or meshes and placed on the neck of the network of a drag ship.
But Raghupathi said that fish can also escape when devices are installed on the networks, which makes them economical. “It is necessary that there are other solutions, such as installing cameras on our networks or something else that does not compromise our already decreasing fish capture,” he said.
After the media reports on turtle deaths, the National Green Court of India, the highest court in the country for environmental issues, has threatened with a total prohibition of fishing during the turtle nesting season if They immediately comply with the fishing standards.
Protect vulnerable species … and fishermen
Golfin turtles are considered a vulnerable species since they lose their habitat, they are subject to marine pollution and can be trapped in fishing nets.
As their eggs need two months to hatch, like most marine turtle species, they are also threatened by greater terrestrial activity on beaches and coasts, warmer temperatures and light pollution that can disorient turtle young.
More than 500,000 turtles nest every year on the beaches of the east coast of India, in the state of Odisha, a phenomenon of massive nesting that turtle conservationists call arrival. But only one in 1,000 turtle young survives until adulthood.
Supraja Dharini, founder of Tree Foundation, a turtle conservation organization, said that turtle conservation can work together with fishing practices, provided they are sustainable.
“What is good for small artisanal fishermen is usually good for turtles,” he said.
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Sibi Arasu, associated press
(Tagstotranslate) South of India