HYDERABAD: Over 12,000 sea turtles die between September and November every year along the length of the country's eastern coast because of getting caught in fishing nets. The three months are when thousands of Olive Ridley turtles come ashore for nesting and laying eggs.The laws make it mandatory for fishermen to use nets with Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs), but fishermen have remained stubborn in their refusal.

Under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1996, and also under the Andhra Pradesh Marine Fishing Regulation Act, 1994, fishermen must attach TEDs to trawl nets to prevent turtles from getting entangled.But the marine law enforcement mechanism lacks teeth and the strong fishermen's lobby turns down TEDs citing reduction in fish catch.Out of nearly 700 mechanized boats at the Vizag fishing harbour, around 60% are involved in trawl fishing.

The turtle deaths come in the coupling season, which spans September-November.

According to a 2013 report by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) titled `Marine Turtles Along the Indian Coast', apart from entanglement in trawl nets, other major threats to these marine creatures include habitat loss, industrial effluents and toxic chemicals from the phar ma industry that cause water pollution close to the shores, unfavourable beach lighting, unplanned beach development, killing of turtles for meat and poaching of turtle eggs.

Zoologists say turtle deaths would upset the marine ecosystem, thus adversely impacting the marine food chain.“Jellyfish are harmful to other fish. Ecofriendly turtles eat jellyfish and are thus a boon to other fish," said retired zoology professor Barata Lakshmi.

