Nesting site and hatching of the Hawksbill turtle along Thirunelveli coast of Tamil Nadu

Mapping of the nesting sites of turtles along south Tamil Nadu Coast including the islands of Gulf of Mannar was undertaken. In pursuance of this study, every year during the nesting season in this area, from September to early February periodically walking trips in the night hours were made along the coast, backed by the knowledge accumulated over the past by the local fishermen. It is believed that heavy jolting of eggs during transport, clayey soil of the pit where they were buried and sprinkling of water on eggs must have had some effect on the hatching, rate of the eggs

Domestic marketing and infrastructure development of marine fisheries in India

The harvesting technology in open access marine fisheries and marketing pattern of marine products have undergonerapid structural change in the post liberalisation era of the Indian economy. Product development, market diversifiC3tion311d consequent inftastrul"turedevelopmcnts in fishery sector have been oriented m:1.inJytowards the enhancement of exports and forcx earnings. The thrust on exporl" led to the growth of prcscIVatiol1and processing sector of seafood industry. The conunercial imporL111Cofe mostof the primary markets (landing centres) in the rural coastal areas have been shifted to a few urban centres. TIICnIral-urban divide is further widenedas the movement. of fish is channelised to Ulelong distance urban markets

Bibliography of the Indian Ocean 1968 (with a supplement for 1962-1967)

A request was made to the readers at the time of the issue of the first Bulletin in March 1968 containing refernces relating to the Indian Ocean for the 1962-67 period, to bring to our notice any omission noticed so that those references could be in corporated in a supplement to be brought out along with the bibliography for 1968. We received favourable response to this from several interested workers but would like to make special mention of Dr. M. Angot, Centre O. R.S. T. O. M. de Nosy-Be, Madagascar, Mr. S. W. Bhat, Meteorologist, India Meteorological Departement, Poona and Dr. E. G. Silas of this Institute who supplied us with quite a large number of references which have gone a long way in making the supplement comprehensive. Our sincere thanks to all those who extended their co-operation

On the large and mini Arribadas of the olive ridley Lepidochelys olivacea at Gahirmatha, Orissa during the 1985 season

While to some extent the time of occurrence of the first and second arribadas may be predictable within plus or minus a fortnight, the intensity and other aspects such as the extent of utilisation of beach areas; nesting during day time and so on differ greatly. observations on the 1985 first and second arribadas of the olive ridley at Gahirmatha, which when critically examined deviate in many aspects from observations made on the arribadas during the earlier two years. It is quite obvious that implementing the Wildlife (Protection) Act is still a problem. While efforts should not slacken, it is also appropriate to see whether a part of the 'doomed eggs' of the large arribadas could be collected for use as food. Management advise will be needed on this and decisions can be made in the field only on the basis of the intensity of an arribada. If this is feasible, and the beaches are well protected from poaching, a well regulated controlled harvesting of the 'doomed eggs' and marketing the same through only Government channel may be thought of

Obervations on the mass nesting and immediate postmass nesting influxes of the olive ridley Lepidochelys olivacea at Gahirmatha, Orissa-1984 season

Observations made during the mass nesting of the olive ridley Lepidochelys olivacea during January-February, 1984 at Gahirmatha rookery, Orissa is reported here along with some details on the nature of immediate post-mass nesting influxes. Strangely a large number of abnormal animals were seen to nest during the lean phase of nesting. The nature of the abnormalities, along with likely routes of the breeding migration, non-human predation of nests and environmental problems at Gahirmatha are discussed here

Present status of the turtle fishery in the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Bay

Turtles are caught along the entire coastline of India but except in the Gulf of Mar.rar ar.d Palk Bay it is a fishery of only a causal nature and hardly of any significance. The main commercial species is the green turtle Chelonia mydas while other species occur in stray numbers. A fairly regular fishery of some magnitude exists for the green turtle in the Gulf of Mannar and it is estimated that on an average about 3,CC0 to 4,CC0 numbers are landed every year between Pamban and Cape Comorin. In the Palk Bf,y ihc fishery is of a much lower level and about 1,000 turtles are estimated to be landed annually between Rcmeswtrfcm and Mimisal. The possibilities of increasing the catches in the Gulf of Mannar giving due attention to conservation measures are discussed

Turtle poisoning

Turtle poisoning or chelonitoxication have been reported from the tropical and subtropical Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans and the species of turtles responsible for the same are also known. While the clinical characteristics of the disease have been reported from time to time, nothing much is known about the pharmacology or chemistry of the toxins. Todate there are no known antidotes to combat chelonitoxin. By far the largest numberofinstance of turtle poisoning are from the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific. Some observations on instances of turtle poisoning in lndia involving fatalities is reported here with a brief revie

The dugong in India - is it going the way of the dodo

The residual population of the dugong Dugong dugon in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay is today the most vulnerable marine mammal in this region. The sudden escalation of the illegal take of dugongs is discussed here. The number captured or slaughtered has multiplied by 14 times or more within the past 2 years. The use of dynamite sticks is accelerating the possible depletion of this animal aided by other factors such as sail boat trawling along the shore line and the sea grass beds both day and night. The habitat perturbations due to excessive and unregulated mechanised fishing has also become a very critical factor not only disturbing the animals but in incidental capture as well as destroying their grazing grounds. The methods of illegal take, disposal and other related aspects are discussed here. The role that Community Councils and religious leaders could play in the conservation programme for the dugong is stressed. There is a need for an international approach to the problem of conservation and management of the dugong population in this region. This as well as the priority steps to be considered at national level are detailed here

Some health problems observed in the hatchlings and juveniles of sea turtles in captivity

Some health problems of turtles encountered while rearing them {Lepidochelys olivacea and Eretmochelys imbricata) in captivity are recorded here. Most of the problems occurred in the group rearing of the hatchlings and were connected with water quality, availability of food, feed quality and stocking density. Successful treatment for some of the infections are also discussed

Sea turtles of India - need for a crash programme on conservation and effective management of the resource

Great interest is now focussed on the study of sea turtle resources in our Exclusive Economic Zone to develop proper conservation and management measures. we have reports, particularly along south Tamil Nadu and Kerala Coast about turtle poisoning mainly caused by eating the meat of the hawksbill Eretmochelys imbricata during certain seasons. All these point to the need for developing a good monitoring system for understanding the resource, advancing our knowledge on the biology, life history and behaviour of turtles and utilising the information for developing proper management strategies. It is hoped that this publication will help to accelerate Research and Development programmes on sea turtles and assist in the collection of information for different studies to help and evolve conservation and management strategies for our sea turtles. It is with this view that at the recent National Workshop on the Acquisition and Dissemination of Data on Marine Living resources of Indian Seas, an important recommendation was made on the need for collecting data on endangered and rare marine species such as turtles and Cetaceans