By Chanchal Mukherjee
New Delhi: With an aim to promote sustainable and environment-friendly fishing practices, the Central government has proposed to install Turtle Excluder Devices (TED) on the existing mechanised fishing vessels, citing that it will help reduce the 'by-catch' and capture of non-target species.
As per the Department of Fisheries, the move enhances conservation and protection of endangered species with a focus management of turtle population, along with promoting eco-friendly marine fisheries in compliance with national and international regulations.
"The Ministry of Fisheries will be the implementing agency at the central level to implement the activities relating to TED through concerned States and Union Territories. Various agencies are promoting the use of TEDs through awareness campaigns. In a bid to protect and conserve sea turtles’ population, it is necessary to have a sound conservation and management of turtles’ population through various measures including mandatory fitment of TEDs in trawler nets,” the ministry said.
Through this initiative, the government aims to reduce the by-catch and capture of non-target species, and promote sustainable and environmental-friendly fishing practices for economic aspects, the Ministry said.
"The main threat to sea turtles is drowning by becoming entangled in fishing equipment. The catch, by-catch, and accidental capture of sea turtles is a global issue, owing to which scientists, fishermen and stakeholders have developed TEDs to address this problem during fishing," a report of the Department of Fisheries mentions.
As per Ministry's report on TED, "The FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries guidelines advocate the need for protecting endangered species like sea turtles. In May 1996, the United States' legislation (Section 609 of Public Law 101-162) prohibited the import of trawl nets which were not equipped with TEDs."
What Scientists Say
"TED is a system to save turtles and endangered species during fishing in marine areas. It will be installed on fishing vessels and nets to protect turtles. In Andhra Pradesh, around 100 such TEDs have already been installed and more will be fixed soon," BK Behera, Chief Executive of National Fisheries Development Board, told ETV Bharat.
"TEDs will definitely help save turtles during fishing in marine areas," said Dr Pramod Pandey of ICAR Fisheries department.
What Fishermen Say On TEDs
"TED device will be installed in my boat very soon. Regarding this, we have been provided a skill development training and field training will be given to us before fishing season. In the training, we gained knowledge about TED device and its benefits for fishing community," said Umang Bhai Naran, a fisherman.
"We have heard about the TED device but no such device has been fitted in our boats as yet. If government provides us with this TED system, it will definitely help save endangered species in deep sea," Arjun Bhai Parmar, another fisherman, told ETV Bharat.
ReALCraft
Registration under the online registration system ReALCraft is currently underway, while a total of 2,44,232 fishing vessels are operating in the Indian coastal waters, the Ministry data says.
Implementing Agency
The Ministry of Fisheries will be the implementing agency at the central level for TED-related activities across States and Union Territories, while the concerned State and UTs will be the nodal implementing agency.
Fitment Of TEDs
As per reports, fitment of TEDs in the trawler nets will be implemented as non-beneficiary-oriented activity under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY).
Unit Cost Of TED
According to the government, the unit cost of a TED is shared between the Centre and the concerned State government in a 60:40 ratio under PMMSY.
