- More than 1,000 olive ridley turtles have washed-up dead, on Chennai’s coast, in the last few weeks.
- Conservationists attribute the primary cause of the mass turtle deaths to drowning due to entanglement in trawler fishing nets, despite trawlers being prohibited from operating near the shore.
- Trawlers have been mandated to be fitted with turtle excluder devices and a task force has been set up to monitor turtle movements and nesting activities.
The mass death of olive ridley turtles on Chennai’s coast in the last few weeks, has sparked nationwide concern. The total coastline of Chennai has seen more than 1,000 deaths, according to several news reports. The death toll has crossed 346 in the 13-kilometre stretch between Neelankarai and Marina beach alone in January 2025, which is the highest for a month in Chennai, according to the data shared by the Students Sea Turtle Conservation Network (SSTCN), a voluntary group conserving olive ridleys.
The southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has now warned of a complete ban on trawling during the nesting season of olive ridleys, if fishing regulations are not complied with. Conservation organisations and the state forest department are now intensifying sensitisation programmes with the fishers, which entail educating them about turtle excluder devices (TEDs) that help turtles escape when they are caught in a fishing net.
“It’s not a puzzle why they die, as it is a clear case of drowning. The puzzle is why we have such high death numbers this year,” shared V. Arun, trustee and coordinator, SSTCN. Drowning may occur when turtles are caught in nets as bycatch and not released in time.
This is also not the first time that olive ridley deaths have occurred in huge numbers. On February 22, 2014, members of TREE Foundation India, an organisation that protects olive ridley turtles, discovered a devastating sight—about 800 dead turtles washed ashore along Nellore’s coast in Andhra Pradesh.
“Olive ridleys die every year. In fact, only 20% of the dead turtles wash ashore. However, as we had less nesting in the past two years due to cyclonic storms in the Bay of Bengal in November and December, the death toll was comparatively lower,” said Supraja Dharini, Founder, TREE Foundation India.

Mechanised trawlers and olive ridleys
Initial investigation of a carcass that washed up on Chennai’s shore showed signs of drowning in fishing nets – bulged eyes, swollen necks, and internal haemorrhage marks on the underside. However, the official post mortem report is yet to be released.
Trawler fishing vessels deploy and retrieve nets that are used for bottom fishing to target fish and other marine organisms. In the 1950s, India initiated the Indo-Norwegian project adopting the new fishing technologies from the Norwegian government. Mechanised boats were built, fishers were trained and the project took off in Kerala. “In Tamil Nadu, they were first introduced in Kanniyakumari, with the notion that the sea was inexhaustible. This practice goes against the ethos of artisanal fishermen, who traditionally take only what they need from the sea,” shared Nityanand Jayaraman, a Chennai-based environmental activist.
However, a turtle trapped in the nets is also a fisher’s nightmare. “We immediately release them and avoid bringing them onto the boat, as we believe having a turtle onboard affects the catch. We worship turtles,” Nanjil P. Ravi, president of a fishers group called Anaithu Meenavargal Sangam. He also noted that many turtles are getting caught in the fishing nets this year.
Fishers are also aware that the olive ridleys are protected under India’s Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. “The artisanal and commercial fishermen are aware that catching these turtles is a punishable offense,” added K. Bharathi, president of the South Indian Fishermen’s Welfare Association.
Once caught in a net, the process of releasing turtles back into the ocean, however, does not happen as quickly. Fishers check their nets only once in an hour or two. If turtles are caught in a net, they cannot access the surface to breathe and can die due to asphyxiation. “As sea turtles are air breathing reptiles, they need to surface at least every 45 minutes to breathe. Under stressful situations such as being entangled in a net they need to surface more frequently as their oxygen level depletes at a faster rate,” Supraja Dharini noted in a 2014 report.

The next steps
In a major violation of law, news reports and environmental activists also found the operation of trawl boats in Chennai coast within three to four kilometres of the shore. The Tamil Nadu Marine Fishing Regulation Rules, 2020 states that mechanised fishing vessels shall not be used for fishing within five nautical miles from the shore. Bharathi commented, “It is true that trawlers are not following the rules and are fishing very close to the shore. The government, which encouraged trawling, should recognise the environmental hazards associated with it and take steps to educate the fishermen, as well as enforce stricter regulations.”
“Artisanal fishermen follow the rules and even advise the commercial fisheries to abide by them. But as shrimp and cuttlefish are available within a few kilometres off the shore, commercial fishers violate rules and some even threaten artisanal fishers with rocks, rods and petrol bombs,” Supraja Dharini shared, adding that the fisheries department should educate them on the fishing regulation rules while issuing licenses.
The Wildlife Warden of Chennai, Manish Meena, told Mongabay India that state-level awareness programmes and sensitisation drives for fishers in Chennai and Chengalpattu districts are underway. Onsite and offsite post-mortems are being conducted to determine the causes of death and night patrols have been intensified to protect hatchlings, he informed.
A task force comprising representatives from the Wildlife Wing, Indian Coast Guard, Fisheries Department, Enforcement Wing and the Coastal Security Group, has been set up. Its primary objectives include monitoring turtle movements and nesting activities, conducting joint patrols and submitting weekly reports on enforcement actions and compliance.
Trawlers have also been mandated to be fitted with TEDs. “Ensuring that trawlers are fitted with TEDs demands considerable effort to convince fishermen and involves a long process of engagement,” added Arun.
Meanwhile, the fisher associations request a detailed investigation into the matter, indicating that there could be more reasons than using trawlers. “In a recent meeting with fisheries associations, the fisheries department mandated the use of TEDs. But what about the other issues? In Chennai the shoreline has been replaced with groynes in many areas, leaving no space for the turtles to nest. Merely stopping trawling won’t resolve the issue,” said Bharathi.
“Olive ridleys were found dead even on days when fishermen did not venture into the sea. Over the past three months, adverse weather conditions and consecutive warnings from the weather department have kept fishermen ashore on more occasions than usual,” he added.
Bharathi also highlighted the issue of plastic pollution on the shores. “I am sure the bellies of these turtles also have a lot of plastic.”
Abhishaek, a member of SSTCN responded, “It is hard to put a metric on it (plastic waste-based deaths) based on arbitrary observations. We do see a lot of garbage on our shores but there is no hard evidence. However, the amount of pollution our oceans are going through is past the threshold.”
“Chennai has four estuaries – Kovalam, Adyar, Cooum and Ennore. There are four different ways landways pollutants reach the sea (in Chennai). Geographically, it has a higher contribution to the ocean’s ill health. There are definitely more plastics on these beaches than before,” added Jayaraman.
Read more: Indigenous turtle-safe fishing devices help India tackle U.S. shrimp ban
Banner image: An olive ridley turtle on Chennai’s shore. Image by Abhishaek M.