Turtle excluder device (TED) in trawl nets: applicability inudIndian trawl fishery

摘要

Turtle fishing was banned in India from 1977 as turtles were declared as protected animals under Schedule I of the IndianudWildlife (protection) Act 1972 as per the amendments made to the schedule in September 1977. Similar restrictions wereudobserved in many other countries. In spite of these restrictions, there is illegal fishing for turtles in some countries. Apartudfrom these illegal activities, there is considerable amount of incidental mortality of turtles due to fishing activities likeudtrawling and gill netting. India, Australia and the USA are the major contributors to the mortality of turtles due to fishingudactivities, particularly the prawn fishing operations. In 1980, a unique separator trawl design called the Turtle ExcluderudDevice (TED) was developed by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of USA to reduce the incidental capture ofudendangered sea turtles by shrimp trawls. The NMFS developed a number of TED designs to improve their functioning. Fromud1993 shrimp season onwards, USA implemented revised federal TED regulations which are more effective in reducing turtleudmortality. India also started testing different types of imported TEDs in view of the US embargo on imports from countriesudnot implementing TEDs. Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT), Fishery Survey of India (FSI) and Central Instituteudof Fisheries Navigation and Engineering Training (CIFNET) conducted experiments with imported TEDs. These experimentsudcould not impress the fishermen as there are no comparable data from the traditional trawl nets and trawl nets with TEDsudsimultaneously. Field trials of the CIFT-TED have been carried out off Cochin, Visakhapatnam and Paradeep. CIFT-TED isudnow being popularized in maritime states in collaboration with MPEDA and respective state fisheries departments. In spiteudof all the assurances of the government agencies in India, the USA, Australia and other shrimp trawling countries, fishermenudstill feel that there is considerable escapement of shrimp with TEDs attached trawl nets which is the major bottleneckudaffecting implementation of TEDs in India and elsewhere.