ENVIRONMENT-INDIA: Fishing Trawlers Spell Death for Sea Turtles

PURI, India, Apr 2 (IPS) - The stench emanating from the carcasses of
thousands of butchered Olive Ridley turtles overpowers seaside visitors in
this pilgrimage town in Orissa on India's east coast.

The estuarine areas of the tributaries of Mahanadi ű Debi Mouth,
Ramchandi -- and the popular beaches of Astaranga and Beer Jehaniya are
dotted with carcasses where turtle nurseries were meant to be protected.
Beer Jehaniya, a popular picnic spot for tourists who want to witness the
turtles laying eggs, has become a turtle mortuary.

  Wildlife activists estimate that nearly 6,000 to 7,000 Olive Ridley
turtles are killed by commercial trawler fisherfolk during the nesting
season between November and May, in utter defiance of wildlife protection
laws. Orissa is known to be among the last nesting places of Olive Ridley
turtles in the world.

  When the turtles get entangled in trawler nets, the fisherfolk do not
bother to disentangle the gasping turtles. Instead they hack the turtles
so they can save their nets. Most turtles drown, unable to surface to the
air to breathe. After two days, the bloated, bloodied carcasses are washed
ashore.

  Fishing trawlers from neighbouring states and countries such as Andhra
Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal in India and Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri
Lanka and Indonesia add to the Olive Ridleys' woes.