I on behalf of the Organisers of the Workshop, at the outset welcome all the participants including trawl owners, media men, NGOs, scientists and officials of various Government Departments for their presence in the Inaugural session of the Programme. Let me then inform you the Programme of the day. To-day, two technical sessions were to be held successively following the Inaugural Session, the First one to allow presentations on TED by the invited scientists, and the Second one for an in-depth interaction between the trawl owners on the various issues and problems they might experience in using TED on one hand and the concerned officials and scientists on the other. In the next two days, training in the designing and fitting of TED and on-sea demonstration of TED would be organized respectively for the trawl owners and operators. On the Concluding Day, that is, 12th Feb.2002, the Agriculture Production Commissioner (APC), Orissa and other distinguished dignitaries shall attend and address the Workshop.
On seeing our agenda you would realize that we are for that matter the Government are not going to impose anything one-sidedly on you against your will. This Workshop is rather meant to facilitate an open and frank dialogue between the Government and the trawling industry on the burning issues that confront the marine fisheries of the State.
As you know, the Orissa Marine Fishing Regulation Act is in force since 1982. But to implement the various provisions of this legislation in the field, the Government sincerely wants your cooperation and opinions as well. The chief rational behind the said legislation is to maintain a balance between apparently conflicting demands of environment and development. If and when such a balance is disturbed, it entails umpteen problems for every body. Our aim is therefore to ensure simultaneously both protection of environment and development in marine fisheries sector.
As you might know, hardly a month back, I joined as Director of Fisheries and soon thereafter wanted to know the various problems being experienced in the field. On 27th January last I along with some trawl owners sailed out off Paradip coast to see the TED operation in sea. As you might further know, a scientist of Wildlife Institute of India who was provided with a departmental vessel has been requested to involve you trawl owners in every field trial of TED that he would undertake. Since you are the people, without whom the application of TED can not possibly take off at all.
Let me tell you, if you use TED, you shall reap double benefits. On one hand, the existing legal compulsions for turtle protection can be complied with, and on the other, your fish catch would remain ensured. How to strike a balance between the two apparently divergent considerations is the primary objective of the Government, which however can not be achieved overnight, but rather through a step-by-step participatory process of experimentation and consultation. The ongoing 4 day programme of Workshop-cum-Demonstration on TED, which has just been inaugurated today, is just a significant step in that direction.
We have deliberately chosen Paradip as the venue of the programme , not Bhubaneswar or Cuttack, precisely for the reason that it would be convenient for the trawl owners to take part in its deliberations through out and to see in your own eyes the results of on-sea demonstration of TED operation in your coast.
Let me tell you that we have been toying with the idea of holding such a programme in this place for last one year, but could not somehow succeed in getting it done for this or that reason. Today's programme is therefore the fulfillment of a long cherished dream of our Department.
As you might know, the efforts for TED technology transfer for our fishermen had started off with the visit of Mr.Charles Oravetz and his team of National Marine Fisheries Service, USA about 6 years back, in February 1996 for a field survey of Dhamra mouth and other turtle sensitive coasts of Orissa. Subsequently, as all of you are well aware, a 4 day long Workshop-cum-Demonstration on TED was held at Paradip in November 1996. I hope some of you might well recollect the business that went on in that programme.
The Government is well were that the trawling industry of our coast is instrumental in bringing in considerable foreign exchange to our country by way of exporting shrimp and fish abroad. But as you know, in the present scenario such export can't continue smoothly, if we don't apply TED in our trawl nets. With this perspective in mind and above all, the prime interest of the trawling industry in view, the Government wanted to sensitize you the trawl owners through a process of dialogue and field trials, on the efficacy of this much controversial device. Keeping this objective in view, soon after my joining, I visited your coast a number of times, and each time had a frank and cordial discussion with you, the members of trawl owners association on the TED issues.
Let me now inform you that earlier we had received 200 nos. of TED from MPEDA (Marine Products Export Development Authority), out of which 151 nos. were distributed among the trawl owners operating in our coasts. There are balances of 49 nos. of TEDs available with us at present. Additionally, fresh convoys of 50 TEDs have of late been received by us. Moreover, another 400 nos. of TED are likely to be supplied by MPEDA to the Directorate of Fisheries, Orissa for the purpose of distribution amongst you the trawl owners.
I would therefore request you to take part in the demonstration of TED to be held in course of next two days of this programme and also join and cooperate with the scientists of WII who would continue to experiment the device in sea thereafter till coming April, with a critical eye to see what amount of fish loss one incurs on account of TED.
Another significant news for the benefit of the trawling industry that I want to share with you is that the recent Board meeting of MPEDA have decided to supply a package of GPS communication equipments like Fish Finder and Echo Sounder, worth Rupees One and half lakh, which would help you timely locate the exact latitude and altitude of areas of sea where the fish shoals of definite species are available. The much talked about complaint regarding the declining fish catch can be redressed by the use of such up-to-date devices. Out of the total price of the package, that is, one and half lakh rupees, as much as rupees fifty thousand shall be provided by the Government as subsidy. I appeal to all of you to avail this golden opportunity for increasing your fish catch.
In this fashion, the Government want to help you and your industry prosper more and more , but at the same want to ensure a coordination between your industry on one hand, and the policies and programmes of the Government on the other. You should therefore utilize the present forum of the 4 day long Workshop-cum-Demonstration to ventilate and sort out all your problems and concerns with the concerned scientists and resource persons who would be available through out. Being enriched with new knowledge and understanding gained in the process, let us get together in the Concluding Day of this programme to draw up a realistic plan of action acceptable to most quarters.
With this hope I appeal again to all the participants of to-day's Inaugural Session to make the programmes ahead a grand success. THANKS
I want to tell the trawl owners for whom this Workshop is primarily organized , that our State Government have already made necessary legislation in marine fisheries sector like other maritime States of the country. Accordingly, the Coast Guard is engaged in implementing the same. I learnt from the Commandant of Coast Guard who was present here some times ago that they were duty bound by law to enforce the turtle protection measures in our coast. Still our Department wants to discuss the whole range of issue with you the trawl owners, so as to ensure a smooth and proper implementation of the legal provisions in force with your full consent and involvement.
The most important point here is, why the turtles die in large numbers in our coast? Is it due to mechanized fishing alone or pollution or any other factors? The present Chief Wildlife Warden of the State, wildlife scientists of Govt. of India and Govt. of Orissa and also the trawl owners and fishermen representatives, who are present should discuss openly and freely among themselves in the ensuring technical session to ascertain the real factors of turtle death and how to check them.
A short while ago I was discussing with Sri Kameswar Babu (President, Balasore Trawl Owners Association) about the compulsions behind the use of TED. As you might be well aware, as per the WTO's ruling that wild shrimp caught by our trawlers without the use of TED can no longer be exported abroad. In our country, MPEDA is the designated authority for certifying the export-worthy shrimp cargo to the effect that it has been harvested from the wild with the help of trawl nets fitted with TED. In such a situation, some shrimp exporters might resort to arrange false and forged certificate to overcome the legal hurdle. As regards the other alternative i.e. selling the shrimp in the local market won't fetch a lucrative price as prevalent in the US market. Either way our trawling and shrimp fisheries would be placed in an unhappy situation. This Workshop is meant to help you get over such hassles in a way which is legal and proper.
As you know, both myself and the Director have joined the department hardly a month back and do therefore have a limited knowledge on the subject of marine fisheries. However the matter is simple. Just as the Director of Fisheries said a little while ago, were I a trawl owner myself, why should I use a TED in my net, if it reduces my fish catch and income thereof
As I know, the present design of TED has been already demonstrated a number of times. Some days back the Director Fisheries himself organized a demonstration of TED operation off Paradip coast, during which the Secretary of OMFPA was present among others. As regards the amount of fish escape from the exit hole of TED, there is always a wide variance i.e. from 1% to even 20% of the total catch. That is why, the next two days of the Workshop are scheduled to facilitate an open interaction at field level between the trawl owners on one hand and wildlife scientists, fishery officials and the technical experts on the other as regards the technical details of the TED design and the need if any for its modification so as to further minimize the catch loss. Our Fisheries Department sincerely want an open, free and fair exchange of opinions between you the trawl owners and the scientists and experts before proceeding further.
Be sure, our overriding concern is how to help the trawl owners and fishermen of our State earn more and more income by way of exporting the fish and fish products. It is deplorable that the fishing vessels of other States and countries are intruding into our waters and exploiting our marine resources, whereas our local fishermen are not able to make optimum use of the potential of our coast.
Last but not the least, we have to harmonise the fish production with the legal provisions in force, failing which the business of fish export of our State would come to a standstill. We should not commit a mistake, on account of which our State or for that matter our country would get black-listed in the matter of export of shrimp or fish.
With these preliminary observations, I now request Sri Aurobindo Behera, MD OSDMA and SRC Government of Orissa to deliver his talk.
First of all, I congratulate the leaders and members of trawler associations and fishermen representatives who have come forward to take active part in the proceeding of this four-day long programme on Turtle Excluder Device. I request you to keep your mind open and not to allow your prejudices to overtake your deliberation. The discussions of the Workshop should be conducted in such a way that at the end of the day either we change the preconceived notions whatever we have or these are further reinforced on the basis of properly reasoned out argumentation. As you would agree, an open mind is highly essential for arriving at sound decisions.
As the executive head of the Orissa State Disaster Mitigation Authority and Special Relief Commissioner I am deeply concerned with the severe losses the common people including the trawl owners and operators have suffered on account of natural calamities in Orissa coast in recent past.
On my way to this workshop I chanced to go through some writings that dealt with occurrence of natural calamities. Now the science has advanced so much that it is possible to forecast the frequency and timing of sea-borne cyclones taking place in any part of the globe, say in Indian Ocean , Arabian Sea or Bay of Bengal. Moreover, it is now possible to forecast, for instance, when and where exactly in the coast of Orissa, a particular cyclone is going to strike. With such foreknowledge of the coming disaster, we can forewarn the people and as well the concerned disaster mitigation agencies to get prepared in advance. As you know, there is a high-tech Radar System installed at Vishakhapatnam, which receives the advance signals of a coming cyclone before 48 hours, and can transmit the same instantly through out the country for the knowledge of all. Very recently the Indian Meteorology Department has procured a special kind of Radar which can more accurately predict the timing and magnitude of a natural disaster. It can say with accuracy where exactly in Orissa Coast, say at Paradeep or Dhamara or Balasore the coming cyclone would hit most.
As I know, the entire Orissa coast is highly sensitive to the sea-borne cyclones. Of all the cyclones that have originated in Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean in the past years since 1950, the majority have hit the Orissa Coast. Moreover, this trend is going to further increase in the years to come. Keeping such a scenario in view, we should all the time study the environment around us and the nature and extent of changes taking place within it. Since a change in the environment impacts our life directly and immediately.
As I know, the topic of the present Workshop is not the environment in general but a specific kind of environment that concerns the sea and its coast. Those of you who are living in the coast-line areas or going out into the sea to make your living need to understand the dynamics of the marine and coastal eco-system. You will wonder to know that a particular school of opinion emphasizes the need for construction of dry canals in the coastal areas as a strategy for easy absorption and drainage of the invading storm surges from the sea-side. Another school of opinion advocates the need for sand dunes to act as a deterrent against the storm surges. But as you know, the natural sand dunes which existed earlier all across the coastal tracts of Orissa have meanwhile largely disappeared. Similarly as I know, the mangrove forests and the coastal shelter belt vegetation which are of course now subject to increasing depletion could prove a formidable wall of resistance against the sea-borne cyclones and surging saline waves. In absence of natural barriers against the cyclone, what we are doing today is to go for construction of cyclone shelter centers, which are not only artificial but also expensive. I think our approach should be to preserve and reinforce the existing natural barriers vis--vis sea-borne disasters in stead of going for artificial, expensive and not-too-reliable options.
Now coming to the specific topic of the present Workshop, that is trawl fishery versus turtle protection, I do remember that during 1990-95 when Biju Pattnaik was the Chief Minister of Orissa, we used to receive daily hundreds of letters from the public requesting the Government to protect the endangered Olive ridlyes coming to Orissa coast. As all of you know, before the outsiders, Orissa is well known for its generous hospitality towards all guests including even the sea turtles. It is a fact that thanks to the conductive ecological condition of Orissa coast, Olive ridley sea turtles visit here every year for mating and nesting. Of several beaches of the world, Orissa's beaches which attract the Olive ridleys do certainly possess some special distinction or the other, which we may not know fully. Otherwise why do they come here in large numbers and not go elsewhere.
As you might know further, Olive ridley is a very very ancient species even older than the extinct dinosaurs, which survive to this day notwithstanding the tumultuous changes in the geological and biospheric history of the planet earth. As I fondly remember, once way back in 1992, the then Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India Sri Rajamani being accompanied by the head of India's wildlife department along with the top officials of State Forest Department and myself had been to Gahirmatha and witnessed the unforgettable scene of mass nesting of Olive ridleys in the early hours of the morning. There we found a man from the Forest Department guarding the nesting beach through out the night. Sri Rajamani out of curiosity wanted to know whether that man knew why he was guarding the beach. Soon it became apparent that the guard who was doing his duty sincerely didn't however know the ABC of the reasons for turtle protection. Sri Rajamani took pains to explain to the guard as to why we should protect sea turtles.
Now not only in India but all over the world, there is a growing realization for protecting the sea turtles. In my opinion, just as we conserve tiger in order to save the forests, similarly the sea turtle need to be protected for the sake of protecting the marine and coastal eco-system and its stupendous bio-diversity. There is most probably an organic correlation between the health of the coastal eco-system and visit of sea turtles. We should therefore think together as to how to protect our coastal ecosystem and its bountiful resources while exploiting them for our livelihood. In this creation every one has a right to survival, man, fish or turtle. If we overexploit one segment of nature, other segments shall be adversely affected in due course, too. May be, for some years we shall face no problem on account of such overexploitation, but sooner or later a day of reckoning shall come face to face with man. As all of us know, this planet earth like any other object of creation shall get extinct one day or the other. But it is not going to end in near future. For thousands and thousands of years, mankind shall continue to live in this earth. So we have to exert ourselves to keep the mother earth as a hospitable and peaceful place to live in at least for the next generation. And we can do that by way of conserving and sustainably using its exhaustible resources. Every one of us should therefore learn and internalize the message of conservation for the benefit of the mankind as a whole.
Another important matter that was referred to by the Secretary Fisheries, Orissa in course of his talk, was the issue of WTO and its rules and regulations. As you might know, almost all countries of the world are member-signatories of such international bodies. A particular country may decide to keep aloof from the international main- stream, the framework of which is provided by such bodies, but for a few years only. Someday or the other that particular rebel nation has to join in the international mainstream out of irreversible compulsions. There is no escape. As you might further know, WTO is now the kingpin of the process of globalisation, which affects all countries including India. India has to conform to the standards of globalisation, failing which we would lag behind others. This is not to say that we shall obey the WTO blindly and unquestioningly. Of course we should definitely raise our voice of dissent and protest, when an international body like WTO seeks to impose an unjust demand on India to the detriment of our national interest. But in my opinion, there has been so far no such policy of WTO which ran counter to our national interest. We should not therefore thoughtlessly do something which isolates India from the rest of the international community.
At the same breath I would urge you to re-examine the present model of TED in depth and suggest, if you feel, necessary modification thereof from the point of view of protecting your great profession of fishing from the loss of fish catch. For this what is utmost required is an open and free discussion and dialogue among all the concerned parties. I strongly believe, a law though primarily meant for the welfare of the people is not enough in itself. The people for whom the law has been made need to perceive the law as their own, otherwise no law howsoever foolproof it might sound, would deliver no good to the society at large. In that case such a law which has no people's backing would be either replaced or amended. I hope the present Workshop in course of its various exercises would help all concerned to re-examine the pros and cons of Turtle Excluder Device in its present form and arrive at a consensus, which could be translated into practice at the field level easily and smoothly in the days to come.
As I was told, the commencement of today's programme was delayed due to the commotion that took place among the trawl owners centring round some press reports that allegedly blamed the trawl owners for the mass death of sea turtles in Orissa coast. I hope the present Workshop would steer clear of such confusion and misunderstanding. Let us give up our pre-conceived notion and approach the issues with a fresh mind. The scientists, officials and other educated persons who are present here should realize that the people who are engaged in their profession of fishing at field level are also equally, nay even more knowledgeable, and might contribute to the science of sea turtle biology and conservation in their our way, possibly more than they do. So let us learn from each other and thereby find out commonly acceptable and practical solution to the much tangled problems confronting both coastal environment and fishing industry in an amicable and cordial manner.