Fishermen receive training to rescue Olive Ridleys
Fishermen from 10 villages participated in the workshop that also included a live demonstration of the rescue works.
A rescued Olive Ridley turtle being returned to sea by fishermen in the area
CHENNAI: With the ghost nets becoming a major reason for the death of Olive Ridley turtles, Tree Foundation held a workshop in Thazhuthali Kuppam fishing village near Marakkanam on Friday to train fishermen on rescuing turtles and other mega fauna that are caught in the nets.
Fishermen from 10 villages participated in the workshop that also included a live demonstration of the rescue works.
Supraja Dharini, founder of Tree Foundation, urged fishermen to report sightings of any mega fauna such as whales, sharks and dolphins so as to keep a record of each sighting and also to report such sightings to the government. “Such kind of reports will help in undertaking conservation measures,” she pointed out.
The organisation explained to the fishermen that 95 turtles, 1 tiger shark and a spinner dolphin have been rescued by the fishermen in the last 3 years. Fishermen were asked to measure the size of the animals if possible to determine their age.
Fishermen were taken on boats to Thazhuthali Kuppam estuary, where dummies of turtles, sharks, and dolphins were thrown into the water to simulate a rescue by removing entangled ghost nets. It was learnt that the Forest Department had decided to felicitate 362 fishermen, who were involved in the rescue of turtles and other marine creatures.
Meanwhile, the Foundation has entered into an agreement with Royal Enfield to provide Rs 10/kg of ghost nets that fishermen retrieve from the sea. Till date, the Foundation has retrieved 1.14 lakh kilograms of ghost nets.
