Will ban trawler boats during Olive Ridley turtle nesting season: NGT warns TN government

CHENNAI: The southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has warned the government of banning trawler boats during the Olive Ridley turtle nesting seasons if it fails to check the usage of prohibited fishing nets.

While hearing a suo motu case pertaining to the deaths of a large number of turtles along the Chennai coast, on Wednesday, the bench comprising judicial member Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana and expert member Satyagopal Korlapati observed that the deaths have came down after the Tribunal took the suo motu cognisance and expressed that it appeared as if the trawler boats are the reason for the deaths.

Asking the government to submit the standard operating procedure (SOP) already prepared to protect turtles and the status of its implementation, the bench added: "if the trawlers continue to do this (using prohibited nets), they will be banned during the (nesting) season. We understand it is harsh, and their livelihood will be affected. If the government mechanism fails, we have to step in."

The bench also directed the government to check whether trawler boats are using turtle excluder devices (TED) to prevent entanglement of turtles in their nets.

Government pleader D Shanmughanathan explained the bench that the forest department conducted the postmortem of the dead turtles with the help of Tamil Nadu University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (TANUVAS) and found out that contusions in thoracic region, rheumatic shock among the other causes.

He informed the Tribunal that several meetings were conducted in coordination with 10 departments, including Coast Guard, and awareness programs on TEDs were conducted throughout 2024. However, the government sought time for filing full reports of the forest department and fisheries department in the issue.

On the other hand, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) advocate Sai Sathya Jith, informed the Tribunal that samples of sea water were collected at 25 locations between Napier bridge and Uthandi to ascertain whether pollution caused the deaths.

Directing the government and the TNPCB to file their reports, the bench posted the hearing on January 31.