(Presented in the Valedictory Session of the Workshop-cum-Demonstration on TED held at Employees Recreation Centre, Paradip on 12th Feb. 2002 under the joint auspices of Directorate of Fisheries, Orissa and Project Swarajya)

We on behalf of the All Orissa Coordination Committee of Trawler Owners wish to draw the attention of the Officers of the Centre and State Government, scientists, media men, wildlife specialists and turtle experts, who are present here in this Workshop, to the following facts and request them to consider the same judiciously.

That the trawler industry of our Sate is passing through a continuing state of sickness under the intolerable impact of the adverse natural conditions that we encounter every day on one hand, and sky rocketing price hike of raw materials, on the other. In such a situation, we want our legitimate demands to be addressed to, otherwise, the fate of 10 to 15 lakh of fishermen families in this poor State or Orissa would surely be pushed to the brink of an impending disaster. Notwithstanding so many odds and obstacles we have been facing, the trawler industry has been adding a huge amount of foreign exchange every year to the exchequer of both Central and State Government. Moreover, our industry has also been contributing to the exchequer of the Government in various other forms, such as by way of paying Sales Tax, Octroi Tax, Excise Tax, Income Tax etc.

Under the circumstances, we request you to consider the fallowing steps so as to save the trawler industry from sliding off to a complete doom.

1. It has been revealed through the deliberations of this Workshop that the sea turtles congregate within the shallow waters only 3 to 4 km off the coastline, and that too in a particular period of the year ( for 2 to 3 months only) for mating and nesting. So on the plea of the turtle conservation, an extensive area covering upto 20 km off the coastline should not be reserved as 'no fishing zone'. The concerned laws declaring such 'no fishing zone' should be amended.
2. So many factors are responsible for unnatural death of sea turtles, such as exhaustion caused by long migration, degradation of the coastal environment, pollution of sea waters caused by the discharge of toxic waste from the industries operating in the coastal belt, pregnancy-related complications, post-delivery morbidity, predation by the carnivorous and haunting animals, and oxygen depletion in the air etc. Instead of properly probing into and thereby eradicating these factors of turtle mortality, the trawler industry and the fishermen communities are being blindly and one-sidedly blamed for it, a fact which should immediately stop.
3. The fishing results of yesterday's demonstration by four trawlers as a part this Workshop, have proved that a device like TED, if used, would result in the escape of fish catch of a trawler as much as by 50%. As we learnt from the telephonic conversation with the trawl owner associations of Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, they are also strongly opposed to the use of TED. So one should not compel the trawling industry of Orissa to use TED.
4. The scientists of CIFT ( Central Institute of Fisheries Technology) who were also present during the on-sea demonstration of TED have themselves seen its results. They might work out a new, alternative device in place of TED, which would cause no loss at all to the fish catch while safeguarding the turtle.
5. If at all a new, alternative device is designed, it should be subject to repeated field-trials for its economic viability by the appropriate Government agencies at least for a year, before the issuing of any Government order to the fishing communities for use of this new device.
6. In view of the existing provision of fishing-restricted and prohibited areas along Orissa coast, declared on the grounds of turtle conservation, the fishermen communities should not be subject afresh to further harassment under any other new Act or Rule proposed on the conservation grounds.
7. There being no visible demarcation along the boundaries of the fishing-restricted and prohibited areas in the sea, sometimes some trawlers mistakenly get into these areas. These trawlers are not only seized, their crews inhumanly beaten and their fish stocks looted, but also the seized trawlers are intentionally kept under custody of the concerned authorities for months together and harassed like anything, leading ultimately to their pauperization. All this should stop.
8. The devices like TED should not be thrust on the trawl owners of Orissa, nor a huge amount of money of UNDP and Central Government allowed as at present to be wasted away on the pretext of turtle conservation and monitoring Rather a part of such money should be earmarked for compensation to the trawl owners, who are willing to fully close down their industry for three months of turtle season along Orissa coast.
9. In recognition of the spirit of self-sacrifice so shown by the trawling industry and also in the interest of furthering the economic development of the fishing communities, necessary financial assistance should be provided to them on one hand, and their involvement in the turtle conservation measures elicited on the other.

                                                                    SD/ Kameswar Narayan Praharaj
                                                                                     Convener
                 ALL ORISSA COORDINATION COMMITTEE OF TRAWLER OWNERS
                                                                    Dated 12th of February 2002, Paradip

( English rendering of the Oriya article has been made by Sri Chitta Ranjan Behera, Advisor, Project Swarajya )