The past and present scenario of sea turtles in India: An overview of possibility for recurrence of history

Abstract

India has five species of sea turtles distributed along its coastline. Olive ridley is abundant and unique for mass nesting along the Orissa coast. The near absence of once abundant turtles in the Gulf of Mannar might be due to their migration to other areas or have been reduced to a minority population due to over exploitation. Turtles in Andaman and Nicobar are also under stress due to developmental activities. The turtles migrating to Indian waters are on the decline owing to many factors including incidental catch, human exploitation, beach development, predation by wild animals and beach erosion with incidental catch playing a prime role. Also, the destructive mode of fishing in some pockets lead to habitat damage. All the five species have been protected under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972. But, the involvement of stakeholders and the need to provide the fisher folk an alternate livelihood option to ease the fishing pressure are considered vital to effectively protect these resources. The recent turtle nesting in Gulf of Mannar has given hope that the conservation efforts are yielding results but, still a long way to go for the return of history of turtle abundance.