Ex-situ conservation of Olive Ridley Turtles in Vizag paves way for marine conservation

The Andhra Pradesh Forest Department has been carrying out the Olive Ridley Turtles conservation program every year in Vizag. With an increase in turnout this year, the officials seem to be successful in their Ex-situ conservation methods. The season for nesting starts from January and extends up to mid-April. Increasing Olive Ridley Turtles nesting in Visakhapatnam has provided an alternative livelihood for local fishermen, and paved the way for the conservation of other marine creatures.

” Compared to the previous year, which had a total nesting of 47,000 turtles up to May, this year has seen a major increase, with a record of 40,000 nestings only up to February,” said District Forest Officer (DFO) Anant Shankar. He added that this increase can be attributed to the stable weather conditions around the Indian Sub-Continent in the past year.

The Visakhapatnam area which is one of the major nesting sites on the east coast has been conducting Ex-situ conservation methods for Olive Ridley Turtles due to the increasing activities on the beach, pollution, stray dogs, and human trampling. Under this process of conservation, local fishermen are employed for a period of five months, who are responsible for taking out the eggs, recording the date and time, carefully placing them in guarded hatcheries for a period of 45 days, and releasing them back in the sea.

“This conservation method also aims to help the fishermen community, by giving them an alternative livelihood for five months. We have allotted 5 fishermen for each camp, making it a total of 25 fishermen. They are given adequate training and carry out all the necessary work of conserving Olive Ridley Turtles in Vizag,” said the DFO.

While speaking about the conservation process with Yo! Vizag, the DFO said, ” The fishermen have become our eyes and ears in the ocean. We have rescued many other marine creatures with this Ex-situ Conservation process. Many Whale Sharks have been rescued in the recent past in Visakhapatnam with the help of these fishermen.”

This year, District Collector Mallikarjuna graced the event which was held in the wee hours of Sunday. 982 hatchlings were released into the sea. The officials have collected a total of 61,218 eggs and released 3,786 hatchlings into the sea till 19 March.

The DFO on a closing note requested the public to not mishandle these hatching by clicking pictures and touching them during public events.