Good nesting season of Olive Ridley turtles ends along Chennai’s coast

The annual nesting season of Olive Ridley sea turtles is drawing to a close along the Chennai coast

The annual nesting season of Olive Ridley sea turtles is drawing to a close along the Chennai coast.

In the four hatcheries maintained by the Forest Department at Pulicat, Besant Nagar, Neelankarai, and Kovalam, 38,721 turtle hatchlings were released into the sea as of Monday.

Through the combined effort of forest guards and volunteers of turtle conservation organisations, 487 nests were located and looked after at the four hatcheries. “Overall, this has been a good season,” said Akila Balu, coordinator, Students Sea Turtle Conservation Network (SSTCN), which works with the forest department hatchery at Besant Nagar.

“Through sustained efforts of forest department staff and our volunteers, we were able to completely avoid wild hatchlings,” Ms. Akila said referring to hatchlings born from nests that get missed out and stay in the open.

Conservationists pointed out high mortality this season as several turtles were found to have died from getting entangled in fishing gear. As per a government notification, fisherfolk are required to attach a Turtle Excluder Device (TED) before the cod end of the trawl net.

In 2016, it ordered a ban on fishing within a five nautical mile radius around the potential turtle nesting and breeding grounds during the breeding season between January 1 and April 30 of every year. However, conservationists and Forest Department officials say there is lack of enforcement on the ban and use of TEDs.

Supraja Dharini, TREE Foundation, stressed on the dangers of ray fish nets, known as thirukka valai, for the turtles coming to the shore to nest. Ms. Dharini called for intense awareness among fisherfolk on stopping usage of thirukka valai during the nesting season and enforcement in this regard.