My name is Linda Peer-Groves, I am an American living in Bhubaneswar, Orissa since January. I discovered the plight of the Olive Ridley Turtles by following articles in local papers. My family visited the Devi River nesting site in hopes of showing our children these magnificent creatures and found, to our horror, the corpses of the dead turtles strewn as far as the eye could see. This devastation would cause unimaginable outcry in Europe's Mediterranean Seashores or along the coast of the Americas, but here it seemed to be largely ignored. There was some evidence of counting as some shells were painted red, but not all were marked. This trip haunted my husband and I and we have since made efforts to become as informed as possible about the turtle issues in Orissa in order to help facilitate a solution to stop this senseless slaughter. We believe that there may a relatively simple solution that would benefit everyone from inshore fishermen to trawler owners.
It appears that much time, effort and money has been expended in an effort to establish the use of TEDs. There is evidence that campaigns to promote awareness of why and how to use them have taken place; excellent laws have been adopted to ensure they are used; local designs have been created to make the technology cost-effective and readily available. Despite these efforts the result is that only two demonstration trawlers are currently equipped with the devices. The mass deaths of turtles continue, making Orissa a pariah to local and international wildlife and conservation efforts. When tourists want to learn about Orissa the first thing they hear about is the super-cyclone, the next thing is the beaches where all the turtles are dying. This hasn't proved a big attraction for the Tourist Industry. My focus here today is not to recall the failure of efforts to date. Rather, I would like to propose a new direction to focus energy and funds to help solve this problem.
After much consideration and exploration of available research of similar turtle problems around the globe, it appears that one universally accepted solution is the creation of artificial reefs off the turtle nesting areas. The evidence is compelling. This technology is used around the globe for different reasons with many positive outcomes. Artificial reefs have been created with positive results in the Philippines, Malaysia, Mexico, the Arabian Gulf, Mediterranean Sea, North and South America, Japan, North Sea - England to name a few places. Two important examples are in Kerala to protect the livelihood of local fishermen from the trawlers invasion of their waters, and in Sarawak Malaysia to protect masses of turtles drowning in the trawlers nets, like the situation seen in Orissa.
First an area is chosen to protect. Then a material is chosen to make artificial reefs. There are examples of reefs being made out of many materials, depending on what is available.
old cars rocks barges
old oil tankers concrete well rings bruch shelter
coconut palm stumps triangular coal combustion waste
rocks ferro-concrete units concrete
concrete well rings cast on the beach driftwood
bamboo asbestos electro-deposition
PVC bamboo slate
resin asbestos solid waste and steel
rice husks shells rubber
nylon mats oil platforms pipes
plastic plexiglass pumpkin seed
car tires filled fiberglass glass
with cement: ships
Mainly,
Virtually any object put in the sea seems to attract fish since many species seem to need to be near something.
Artificial Reefs provide:
This provides an example of the simplest designs of reef, constructed by village fishermen in response to loss of fishing grounds through destructive effects of trawling. India is the world's 7th largest producer of fish products and one quarter of India's catch is from the trawlers. The village fishermen survive at subsistence levels and did not have the capital to invest in this technology. They saw the market price of their catch fall, fall in catches through over-fishing and destruction of the nature reefs and sea floor surface. Artificial reefs were constructed using any available materials, rocks, coconut palm stumps, tires, concrete well rings and later triangular ferro-concrete units cast on the beach.
One technique of creating artificial reef is to use specially designed concrete blocks developed by a company called REEFBALLS Inc. This technology has been used around the world.
In Sarawak, Malaysia, it has reduced turtle deaths by 98%, whilst increasing fish stocks. I have been in contact with the Dr.Olsen Braken about Reef Balls that are being used as an effective weapon against illegal commercial trawling in marine parks of the state. Its effectiveness has been demonstrated by the dramatically reduced find of dead turtle carcasses, which had numbered in the hundreds in previous years to the isolated few of today. The success of trawler net deterrence and the added benefit of the Reef Balls working as fish producing device has prompted the state government to expand the programme rapidly. Tourism is also growing.
Reef Balls are designed so that over half of the weight is in the bottom near the sea floor. All sizes of Reef Balls have withstood, without movement, heavy tropical storms in as little as 20 feet of water without anchors. Reef Balls are stable because the opening in the top of the unit breaks up the lifting force of the hydrofoil effect common to dome shapes. Side holes are wider near the center of the walls and narrow near the units surface. This feature creates miniature vortexes, which further reduce lifting forces and bring rich nutrients to life on the reef. Reef Balls can be cast up to double the standard weight to accommodate high-energy zones.
Whatever the type of reef chosen the advantages are likely to include:
Disadvantages
In Malaysia the Sarawak Reef Balls Working Group consists of:
Forestry Dept Sarawak Museum Marine Fisheries Dept. Ministry of Tourism Ministry of Social Development Marine Dept. Marine fisheries Research Institute Marine Police Contingent Ministry of Environment Sarawak Turtles Board Natural Resources and Environment Board Sarawak Tourism Board
The purpose of the group is to oversee all reef ball projects in Sarawak, to ensure a coordinated sound approach to marine conservation, to coordinate the use of reef balls in the State and to monitor the progress of the marine ecosystem on the reef balls.
Education of the Public
I have experience in the Philippines of undertaking a successful environmental education/action programme -Especially the villagers along the coast as they could help to build the reefs and earn money from turtle protection. The fastest education programme is through the schools -children explain to adults what they have learnt in class.
Conclusion
Two Questions....
You can do the two together and increase tourism and Orissa's reputation at the same time. So my basic message is to move the debate away from research efforts (enough is already known) and TEDs to try a practical solution that might work as has been shown elsewhere and benefits everyone.
Each year 20,000 turtles are being washed away. The village I visited said there were in fact more dead turtles this year than ever before. This is a tragedy and we should act responsibly to stop this.
I have presented the idea of artificial reefs to you after consultation with scientists in the USA, Malaysia and the UK. So as well as listening to lectures today I would also like you to think of practical and realistic steps that need to be taken to save the turtles. If the present pattern of death continues the turtles will be gone and most of the fish stocks.
HANDOUT of ACTION STEPS... This couId be used as basis for donor funding proposal.
Some Useful Websites:
http://www.geocities.com/reefballasia/
http://www.ex.ac.uk/telematics/EuroTurtle/olive.htm#olive
http://www.ex.ac.uk/telematics/EuroTurtle/olive.htm
http://www.artificiallreefs.org.Articles/DrasticDropinTurtleLandings.htm