India represents 5 species of sea turtles i.e. Olive Ridley, Green Turtle, Hawksbill Turtle, Loggerhead Turtle and Latherback Turtle. Of these, except the Latherback, other four are reported from the coast of West Bengal. The sea turtle habitat of West Bengal is represented by a 50km coastline of Purba Medinipur district and the sea facing islands of Sundarban Biosphere Reserve. The coast line of Purba Medinipur is a densely populated area with no forest cover except the casurina plantation in a few areas. So the area is not suitable for sea turtle nesting. Thus only a few individual nests were recorded over the years. The sea facing islands of Sundarban are devoid of any human habitation, and has good forest cover with sandy beaches. They are protected areas also. So, these islands harbor a few hundred nests each year. Only Olive Ridley nests were reported from West Bengal. Thus we can see that the whole coastal zone of West Bengal don’t have much nesting activity. But still it is an important turtle habitat mainly for Olive Ridleys mainly because of neighboring areas. Within 100kms from this here is Gahirmatha Rookery, which is one of the few mass nesting site for Olive Ridley turtles in the world. Thus the coastal water of West Bengal see much turtle movement from September-October to May-June.
The sea turtles of this area have always faced many threats. Some of the most severe threats were the commercial trade of turtle meat and eggs and incidental trapping in fishing nets. Though the activities of forest dept have much reduced the commercial trade of turtle meat, this trade has not stopped totally. Turtle death due to incidental catch in gill nets of trawlers has not reduced much. To reduce catching, forest dept has restricted trawling in few protected areas. Coast guard has also started patrolling from 1990. TED (Turtle Excluder Device) has also been introduced to reduce the no of death. But for various reasons, TED has not seen much acceptance in fishing communities. Thus most of the vessels don’t use TED in their fishing nets. So turtle get struck in fishing nets and eventually die. As the commercial trade of turtle meat is banned, the fishermen through away the dead turtles in the sea. These turtles wash up ashore. In the nesting season, the coast of West Bengal and Orissa fills with dead turtles.
As the commercial trade of sea turtle has shown a declining trend, we should also try to reduce turtle death due to incidental catch. All the 7 species of sea turtles that are found around the world are facing the danger of extinction. Though Olive Ridley is one of the numerous species of them, this does not mean they are not in danger. The coast of Orissa, the neighboring state has some of the few mass nesting site of Olive Ridley in the world and the costal water of Orissa also faces the same threats that the costal water of West Bengal faces. So, we should look for ways to minimize the threats for sea turtles otherwise they will go extinct like many other species.
The sea turtles of this area have always faced many threats. Some of the most severe threats were the commercial trade of turtle meat and eggs and incidental trapping in fishing nets. Though the activities of forest dept have much reduced the commercial trade of turtle meat, this trade has not stopped totally. Turtle death due to incidental catch in gill nets of trawlers has not reduced much. To reduce catching, forest dept has restricted trawling in few protected areas. Coast guard has also started patrolling from 1990. TED (Turtle Excluder Device) has also been introduced to reduce the no of death. But for various reasons, TED has not seen much acceptance in fishing communities. Thus most of the vessels don’t use TED in their fishing nets. So turtle get struck in fishing nets and eventually die. As the commercial trade of turtle meat is banned, the fishermen through away the dead turtles in the sea. These turtles wash up ashore. In the nesting season, the coast of West Bengal and Orissa fills with dead turtles.
As the commercial trade of sea turtle has shown a declining trend, we should also try to reduce turtle death due to incidental catch. All the 7 species of sea turtles that are found around the world are facing the danger of extinction. Though Olive Ridley is one of the numerous species of them, this does not mean they are not in danger. The coast of Orissa, the neighboring state has some of the few mass nesting site of Olive Ridley in the world and the costal water of Orissa also faces the same threats that the costal water of West Bengal faces. So, we should look for ways to minimize the threats for sea turtles otherwise they will go extinct like many other species.
