A review of sea turtle exploitation with special reference to Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Lakshadweep Islands, India

Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge Vol. 6(2), April 2007, pp. 285-291 A review of sea turtle exploitation with special reference to Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Lakshadweep Islands, India Basudev Tripathy* & B C Choudhury** *Wildlife Institute of India, P O Box # 18, Chandrabani, Dehradun 248 001, Uttaranchal; Ashoka Trust for Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), 5 th A Main, Bangalore 560 024, Karnataka tripathyb@yahoo.co.uk Received 13 June 2005; revised 17 October 2006 The abundance of sea turtles at a few sites gives the impression that they may not be endangered, but many nesting population are in a decline phase. Over exploitation of sea turtles is considered one of the most direct and easily identified of problem, and causes immense pressure on a population whether it is for commercial or non-commercial purpose. Intensive harvesting of Lepidochelys eggs has resulted in population declines in many parts of the world. The exploitation of sea turtle resources from northern Indian Ocean region area is known from early twentieth century. Although, historically for commercial purposes, sea turtles in recent times are considered a non-commercial resource because of its high rate of reduction in number throughout the region. The paper describes the traditional sea turtle exploitation practices in India with a focus on present exploitation trends in three important sea turtle regions of India. Stringent measures that are required to save sea turtles from exploitation have also been suggested. Keywords: Sea turtle exploitation, Sea turtle consumption, Sea turtle trade, Traditional medicine IPC Int. Cl. 8 : A01K, A01N1/00, A23B5/00 Sea turtles are valuable resource throughout the world having contributed to the nutritional, economic and cultural fabric of life since time immemorial. Indeed, Killing of solitary nesting adults and egg harvesting for subsistence or small-scale commerce has been widespread and significant in the Indian Ocean 1. In the past, sea turtles have been used for local consumption providing chief food as well as other commodities like bone, leather, and shells to coastal people. Their prominence as trade items dates back millennia 2. Turtle fat and oil have been used by coastal dweller since a very long time as traditional medicine to treat asthma, convulsion, skin diseases and body pain 3-4. Intensive harvesting of Lepidochelys eggs has resulted in population declines in many parts of the world including the important olive ridley rookeries like Costa Rica, Mexico and Orissa 5. Further, during the last three decade, sea turtles have become important for their non-consumptive uses in tourism, educational and scientific research, each of which provides indigenous people with opportunity for employment and information services as well as other economic and cultural benefits. Therefore, *Corresponding author exploitation has an implication for conservation and management of sea turtle resources. Decline or even extinction of these animals will not only have ecological but also social and cultural impacts on the society and particularly on the local communities. There are species-specific differences in the use of sea turtles along the Indian coast. Chelonian products have been exported from India under the category of turtle flesh, turtle shell, turtle/tortoise skin 2,6. Historically, India was one of the major turtle markets for Europe and other western countries. India exported turtle products to many countries including Australia, France, Germany and other western union 7. The green turtle is considered the most valuable of all living reptiles since its flesh is a delicacy and the main source of which the turtle itself is called by German as Supenchild Krote (soup turtle). In India, green turtle blood has high demand in South India, where it is believed by the locals to be an elixir. The hawksbill turtle is famous for its dermal plates, which is used for tortoise shell. The shell of the hawksbill consists of scutes that overlaps at first but become juxtaposed in large animals. The shell is most

286 INDIAN J TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, VOL 6, NO. 2, APRIL 2007 valuable, before juxtaposition occurs. Shields are removed from the shell by immersing the freshly killed turtles in boiling water. Heat and pressure are applied to flatten the plates before working into jewellery and other objects. Olive ridley turtle flesh is considered a delicacy by coastal dwellers, and meat is also consumed along many part of East-West coast of India 8. The oil extracted from leatherback turtle is used for maintenance of boat and other sea going crafts. Turtle fishing for food was practiced for ages in many parts of East coast of India. During 1960 s, more than 3000-4000 turtles were estimated to have been landed from Gulf of Mannar of which the green turtle was three fourth of the total catch, and olive ridley and other species constitute 20% of the catch 7. Although no organized turtle fishery existed in Orissa, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, trade of turtle product like live turtles and turtle eggs were transported both by rail and road until formulation of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and inclusion of all the species of sea turtles found in India under this act in 1977 8. The export of sea turtles and derived products was banned in August 1975, when India became the signatory countries to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Five of the world s 7 species of sea turtles are found in India and all are completely protected being placed in the schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The CITES and the CMS (Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals) also prohibit trade in turtle products as it place this animal in Appendix I and Appendices I & II of the convention, respectively. The olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea Escholtz, 1829) turtle is numerous that nests all along the entire Indian coastline. However, the three species, viz. green turtle (Chelonia mydas Linnaeus, 1758), hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata Linnaeus, 1766) and leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea Vandelli, 1761) nest along selected islands and mainland beaches of India. The exploitation of these species is area specific as for example the leatherback nesting, is mostly confined to Nicobar Islands 9. Similarly, green turtles have patchy distribution in Gujarat, Maharastra and Lakshadweep, and hawksbill turtle is reported to nest only in Lakshadweep and Andaman islands 10. The paper deals with a case study of sea turtle exploitation in 3 important sea turtle location of India during the past and present. Methodology The study was undertaken in 3 important sea turtles area of India; the Orissa coast which is otherwise known for supporting the world s largest mass nesting ground of olive ridley sea turtles; the Andhra Pradesh coast, longest coastline along the East coast of India; and the Lakshadweep islands off Arabian sea in West coast of India, and on the maritime trade route between India and East African countries. One of the important maritime state in India, Orissa has a coastline of 480 km, stretching from East of the Subarnarekha river mouth near Udayapur village bordering West Bengal, to the marshes of Ichhapuram in Andhra Pradesh. The marine fishing activities here are dominated by migrating fishers from West Bengal (between Bengal Orissa border and Dhamra) and Andhra Pradesh (from Puri to Orissa Andhra Pradesh border), and the contribution of the Oriya fishers is minimal. Andhra Pradesh is one of the largest maritime states in India. The 980 km coastline extends from the Bahuda River mouth near Orissa in the North to Pulicat, a large brackish water lagoon in the South. The coastal stretch of Andhra Pradesh spread along 9 coastal districts with 453 fishing villages and 280 landing centres. The coast is embedded with traditional fishermen with artisan fishing practices 11. Lakshadweep Island is located in the Arabian Sea off the South West coast of India about 220-440 km from the mainland. There are 36 islands including 12 atolls, 3 reefs and 5 submerged banks. The total land area of the entire Archipelago is 32 km 2 of which the 10 inhabited covers an area of 28.5 km 2, while the remaining uninhabited islands/islets are only 3.45 km 2. Marine fishing is the basic economic activity on these islands, with an estimated 6,000 fishermen and about 850 tuna fishing crafts 12. A total of 62 coastal fishing villages, including fisher camps, and 9 fish landing centres in different stretches along the Orissa coast were visited from November 2003 to April 2004. People were interviewed for information on sea turtle exploitation in the past and present trend in their area. The state forest and fisheries officials of and in charge of coastal forest and fishery divisions were also interviewed. Information was collected using a standard questionnaire 13. Along the Andhra Pradesh coast, the study was conducted between May 2000 and March 2001. One coastal village or fish-landing centre was visited every 20 km along the coast and

TRIPATHY & CHOUDHURY: SEA TURTLE EXPLOITATION IN INDIA 287 coastal folks were interviewed (method as that of Orissa survey). The Lakshadweep survey was conducted between July 2001 and February 2002. All the 10 inhabited islands of Lakshadweep were visited for interviewing the inhabitants on the exploitation of sea turtles in their islands. Results and discussion There are no official turtle landing centres in Orissa, as most of the local fishing communities do not eat turtle meat and eggs due to religious taboos 14. However, some fishing communities do eat turtle meat and eggs in the southern part of Orissa (Figs 1, 2). Prior to independent India, when Kanika was a Zamindari holding, the local Zamindar levied a duty (andakara) for the collection of eggs from the Gahirmatha beaches 15. Eggs were sold in the riverside villages of Bhitarkanika and also transported in large numbers to Calcutta in West Bengal. Local fisher folk had the tradition of preserving the eggs of olive ridley turtles in large quantities by drying them under the sun for future use. Many authors have reported exploitation of sea turtle eggs from the beaches near Astaranga, Chandrabhaga and Gopalpur on sea in Orissa 8,16. A major portion of turtle catch in Orissa used to be from Puri and Konark coast. This catch was mainly exported out from the state. A sea side bustee (hutments) known to be Luniasahi (salt street) in the Puri city which mostly consisted of Christian community of coastal Andhra, temporarily settled in Orissa, were the primary community involved in turtle fishing from sea. The turtles caught from the sea were carried from Chandrabhaga seashore to the stocking center of Konark, near the northern side of the Sun temple. The turtles were then transported by road either to Bhubaneswar or Puri Railway station. At Bhubaneswar and Puri, these turtles were sold to middlemen and subsequently sold to the Howrah Chandni market contractors. The turtles were dispatched by train, upside down, both pair of fore and hind flippers tied up with an identification mark and number inked on the plastron. Similarly, turtles caught in Gahirmatha were transported to Chandbali and then to Bhadrak Railway station for transporting them to Kolkata. People from Ganjam and Chatrapur in south Orissa near to Rushikulya rookery (rookery = colonization of olive ridley sea turtle on land and in water) revealed that before 1975, live turtles were transported from this place via Ganjam railway station to Kolkata and Madras. When mechanized fishing was introduced in Orissa in the 1970s, the turtle take was increased drastically and an estimated 50,000 adult olive ridleys were shipped to Kolkata each breeding season 16,17. But this practice stopped after olive ridley was included as schedule I in the Wildlife (Protection) Act. Turtle meat was sold illegally at Balasore at least up to 1993 and even now fishermen consume turtle meat and eggs near the Chilka mouth (Moto village) 18. They also mentioned about trawlers catching turtles at Gahirmatha and turtles, which managed to escape from the poachers, were seen nesting at the Gahirmatha rookery with nylon rope tied to their flipper. According to the pilgrims from Satbhaya, Talchua and Rangani villages (adjacent to Gahirmatha) who attend the Gangasagar mela (fair) in 24-Pargana district (West Bengal), sea turtle meat was sold at the mela, taken by boat from Gahirmatha. During the present study, 7 carcasses of olive ridley were found in the backyard of the village Mahisha Berhampur, which is close to the new Chilka mouth. There was, however, no evidence of local consumption of eggs or meat of sea turtles in and around Rushikulya rookery or in the Ganjam district of Orissa. In Andhra Pradesh, local fishermen on catamarans catch olive ridleys from about October to February for local consumption (Figs 3, 4). Adult olive ridley sea turtles netted by Andhra fishermen were being transported by rail and lorry to markets in West Bengal from points at least as far as South as Visakhapatnam a few years ago, before the transport of turtles by rail was prohibited 19. Large numbers of sea turtles caught along Andhra coast were supplied to a big refugee camp near Raipur, Madhya Pradesh for consumption by displaced Bangladeshi. The present Visakhapatnam city was once a trade center where tortoiseshell was processed into ornaments and sold 20. At present, some segments of fishing communities in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa collect turtle eggs for local consumption and sale (Fig. 5). Most nests are dug up by humans (55% of the total number of nests laid in northern AP coast) for local consumption of eggs 21. In a few fishing villages along the coast, an extract of sea turtle liver and bile is used to treat pregnancy related and pneumatic diseases and other health remedies 4,21-22. In this part of Andhra Pradesh, there is a caste named after the turtle ( kurma kulam ) and there are two temples dedicated to turtles. There is a temple named Srikurmam dedicated to Kurma Avatara, the sea turtle incarnate of Lord Vishnu, the only one of its kind in the world

288 INDIAN J TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, VOL 6, NO. 2, APRIL 2007 situated near the coastal town of Srikakulam. Srikurmam is an area between Vamsadhara and Nagavali rivers and the Kurmaavatara is believed to have originated from the sea of this area (Srikurmam temple as mentioned in Sthalapurana). In East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, a caste known as Agnikulakshatriya form the highest rung in the social ladder. These people are highly religious and are known for their reverence of the sea turtle, which they worship as a form of Lord Vishnu. The calipee of the turtle is used by some lower caste fishermen but is limited to some part of northern AP coast. The calipee is removed from a freshly caught turtle as and when the necessity arises. It is made into a black paste after processing, which is stored and apparently is very good for joints pain, problems of pregnant ladies, etc. The dosage is a small pinch and this is generally administered free by the community priest who is again from the fishermen community itself. The calipee medicine is locally known as seshakattu. At Pudimadaka village, close to Visakhapatnam port, a village known for its skill in shark fishing is known for its notoriety in capturing turtles and using its meat as bait. Hhawksbill tortoise shell is largely used in making ornamental articles in Visakhapatnam area of Andhra Pradesh. But as this species is rare along the coast, the trade may not be so usual 23. There are past report of extensive trade in turtle fishery for oil and hawksbill being hunted for tortoise shell in Lakshadweep 24. There are historical reports of hunting and fishery of Chelonia for oil even before 1922 25, but the intensity of such exploitation is unknown. Green turtle oil trade and hawksbill turtle shell trade was mainly from the West coast, mainly from Gujarat and Lakshadweep 23,26,27. Prior to 1978, hawksbill scutes from Lakshadweep were sold to mainland dealers in Mangalore and Cochin 25. There are reports of exploitation of green turtles in Lakshadweep primarily for oil, used for caulking boat (Fig. 6) 8. However, according to them, the exploitation of turtles for food trade is unknown in the islands. Lakshadweep islands are known to be an important area for hawksbill turtle shell that was exported to European countries during seventies 28. Stuffing of sea turtles is a traditional custom in the islands. Juvenile hawksbills are caught from the lagoon and stuffed as curios. Seven stuffed hawksbill turtles curios were documented during the present study from households in Agatti, Kavaratti and Minicoy Island. Although illegal, this is still an occasional practice in many islands. During the survey, two fresh hawksbill turtles were found stuffed by an islander in Kavaratti. According to the interviewed islanders, a stuffed specimen is sold to the tourists visiting the island or in the mainland in the cities of Mangalore, Calicut or Cochin. The green turtle is considered to be the most valuable for its fat, which is used as a caulking agent for patchwork in the traditional boats, locally called Odhum. Each green turtle yields about 10-20 L of oil, which is sufficient for one boat. Twenty-two carcasses of adult green turtles (4 females and 18 males) were found in the uninhabited/partially-inhabited islands of Tinnakara, Parali I and II, Suheli Valiakara and Cheriyam Island. 7 carcasses were found in Parali II Island alone, and they were suspected to have been killed for oil as all the carcasses had clear-cut mark and removal of plastron and no flesh. In some islands, gravid females are also occasionally harpooned for consumption of unshelled eggs by preparing it with coconut jaggery and other ingredients. But this practice is rare in the islands at present due to availability of alternate food items 29. The islanders being Muslims generally do not eat turtle meat products because of Islamic religion taboo, even though they are not strictly considered as haram or unclean, although eggs are often consumed and other products may be used for a variety of purposes. In Lakshadweep, people strongly believe that Aamai (turtle in Tamil / Malayalam) is closely followed by the Ameen (tax collector) 29. Opportunistic take of foraging and nesting turtles for oil is however common in the island as of now. Conclusion In Hindu mythology, sea turtles are worshipped as second incarnation of Lord Vishnu. According to Hindu mythology, during the churning of the ocean of milk for getting Amrut (nectar) by Gods and Demons using the mountain as the churner and Vasuki, the proverbial fire headed serpent as cord, the mountain started shrink, but was supported by Lord Vishnu in the form of Kurmavatara, the turtle form. Therefore, the interaction between turtle and man date back to millennia. The use and misuse of turtle resources has lead to many species being threatened or endangered in many parts of the country where they were abundance once. Harvest of sea turtles in the sea and on land in India has never given right a way in spite many populations and their habitats are declining. Although, sea turtles were once upon a time

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290 INDIAN J TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, VOL 6, NO. 2, APRIL 2007 dispatched overland from coastal landing centers in Orissa, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, this practice no more exists after the formulation of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and inclusion of all species of turtles under schedule I of this Act. However, the greatest threat to the survival of olive ridleys along the east coast of India is the incidental captures related mortality of turtles during fishing. Besides, occasional hunting of turtles for meat consumption by economically poorer communities in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh is still practiced. Adult sea turtles, especially greens, are killed for oil, while juveniles are killed for stuffing as curios. Although historical records are inadequate, the interview results and reports of previous studies indicate a general decline in the population of green and hawksbills in the Lakshadweep 29. With centuries of exploitation of green turtles for oil and hawksbill for tortoise shell, population appears to have been certainly reduced in the Lakshadweep Island. Awareness and legal protection has helped sea turtle in general but much more community awareness and stringent implementation of law is required in some beaches. Most local fishermen are not aware of the legal status of sea turtles, nor are they aware of fishing regulations that prohibit them fishing in restricted area where turtle occur. The awareness drive targeted at fishing communities will help both the fishermen and turtle. The key to long term conservation of the sea turtles in India lies in not only mobilizing the local communities to participate in conservation programme, but also to instill in them the feeling of belonging and that by protecting the turtles they are ensuring a secure future for themselves. A community participation approach, where the local communities benefit economically through increased occupational opportunities, would yield better results than a completely protectionist approach. The new protection regimes such as the Community and Conservation Reserves under the amended Indian Wild Life Protection Act, 1972 (as amended up to 2003) may provide suitable frameworks where sea turtles and habitats are protected, while alternative livelihood are generated through some forms of tourism and other schemes 30-31. Acknowledgment Authors are thankful to the GOI UNDP Sea Turtle Project and the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun for funding support. The Andhra Pradesh Forest Department and Lakshadweep Administration provided necessary permission and logistics during the survey. Authors are also thankful for the library facilities by WII, CMFRI, MCBT and Andhra University. The Orissa study component was undertaken by the first author (BT) during his doctoral work on sea turtle along Orissa coast. BT was supported by the WII, WCS India Program, WTT-USA, WTI-New Delhi and ATREE-Bangalore during the preparation of the manuscript. 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