Killing Tides

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.

Turtle Meat Trade

Turtle and tortoises are fascinating creatures. They have amused us with their appearance and behavior from ancient times. That’s why they were depicted in cave paintings and folklores. In Hindu Mythology, Lord Bishnu had an incarnation as a turtle. And in another literature we find mention of a turtle on whose back the earth is resting. In Aesop’s fables of ancient Greece, we find a story of a competition between a turtle and a rabbit. Turtles are kept in ponds and water bodies besides Hindu temples as good oman. Not only in folklore and religious texts, turtles have been mentioned in Ayurbeda medicinal practices. Turtle meat and eggs were relished by people from old times. But none of these have become the reason for their near extinction until the commercial trade of turtle meat has gained ground.

Of the 26 species that are found in India, 22 are under commercial pressure of various magnitudes. But the species which faces the maximum pressure is Indian Flapshell Turtle or Indian Mud Turtle (Lissemys punctata). It has three sub-species in India. L. p. punctata is found in Kerala, Tamilnadu etc states. L. p. andersoni is found in Pakistan, North India, Southern Nepal, upto Bangladesh and Mayanmar through Brahmaputra valley in the east. L. p. vita is distributed from southern Gujrat through Karnataka, Andhrapradesh, upto Orrissa in the east. So it seems the turtle is distributed in whole India except the state, Kashmir. Also as it mostly stays in areas near human habitation, it is one of the most popular turtle too.

The main reason of its wide distribution is its choice of habitat. It is a generalist when it comes to the choice of habitats. It is found in various type of wetlands like river, canal, pond, lake, paddy field even in drains, manholes of many cities. Though it is a fresh water species, it can bear with moderate level of saltwater. That’s why it is also found in estuaries of Sundarban, Bhitarkanika, Kuringa etc places. But it prefers swallow waters. It is also a generalist in terms of prey preference. Its food list includes frog, tadpole, fish, earthworm, crustaceans, molascs, waterplants, and many other things. It also scavenge on dead bodies and keep water bodies clean. Like many other reptiles, turtle also hibernates. In North India hibernation occurs between November and February. Another very interesting behavior seen in these turtles is aestivation. In summer months, if the water body dries up, they leave it and find another one. But if drought has dried up all the water bodies then these turtles aestivate inside mud. Many times this behavior proves to be a life saving one. Time of mating differs in these turtles locality wise. But everywhere it is related with Monsoon. Generally in North India, mating occurs in the month of April-June and egg laying occurs in the month of September-November.  An average clutch contains 9-15eggs. Incubation period is 270-350 days.

Commercial harvesting and selling of turtles has not gained much popularity until the seventies. Turtles were exploited but in a local scale. Mainly the fisherman folks were involved in this. But after seventies the situation changed rapidly. A racket came into play for commercial harvesting and selling of turtles in various places. All species of turtles were exploited but mainly Asian Giant Softshell Turtle, River Terrapin, Gangetic Softshell Turtle, Indian Mud Turtle were exploited most. The first two species are almost extinct in their natural habitat because of this commercial pressure. Now the other two species are mostly found in market. In this trade, Howrah has become one of the main trade center from the beginning. Turtles were transported here from Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Assam. Previously train was the main transport option used by this trade. It was easier to hide the turtles in fish parcels. This trade has peaked in the eighties. In 1991, forest dept has seized 4448 turtles from Kolkata of which 4053 were Indian Mud Turtle. 2926 nos of turtle were seized from Kolkata in 1992 of which 2732 were Indian Mud Turtle. In an average approximately 50-60 thousand turtles were sold in Howrah market alone every year. Later by the activeness of Forest Dept turtle meat trade has gone underground. The main market has now shifted from Howrah to sub-urban areas and Bangladesh border. The transportation system has also shifted towards Bus and Truck. This has somewhat reduced the size of the trade, but it did not stop the trade all together. Till now trucks are seized in various parts of India carrying turtles.

Indian Mud Turtle enjoys the ‘Schedule I’ protection of Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, which is the highest protection in our country.  Though, only legal protection has never saved any species from extinction. One bright side of its wide distribution is that many National Parks and Sanctuaries are within its range which will protect a healthy population of this species. One very interesting fact is that in spite of this severe pressure from commercial exploitation, this turtle has hold its ground in almost all its range. Still it is a ‘common’ species in most of its range. Now only time and our actions will tell how long can it retain its ‘common’ status, or become extinct in its natural habitat just like River Terrapin.