By Kartik Shanker
Every winter, there are three ‘tsunamis’ that hit the east coast of India. The most striking is the remarkable arribada or mass nesting of Olive Ridley turtles in Odisha, when tens or hundreds of thousands of female turtles nest simultaneously within a few days at Rushikulya or Gahirmatha. At the same time, many thousands of turtles also wash up dead, mostly from being caught in trawl fishing nets. The third ‘tsunami’ is the media attention to these dead turtles, wave after wave of hysteria about the impending decline of this population, accompanied by passionate cries for protection by conservation activists.
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But this is not new: it has been going for over a quarter of a century. In the 1990s, the number of turtles dying of asphyxiation in trawl nets went up dramatically, to over 10,000 in some years. This was accompanied by media attention, national committees and many new regulations. However, it also resulted in a deep rift between fishers and conservation, that even led to the deaths of some fishermen and forest guards.
But what is the reality? Are these turtles on the brink of extinction? Is our current approach to conservation appropriate?
Major mass nesting beaches for Olive Ridley turtles occur at Gahirmatha and Rushikulya in Odisha on the east coast of India, and on the Pacific coast of Central America. Overall, Olive Ridleys are widespread and abundant, and doing well at a global scale. With the support of the Forest Department, the Indian Institute of Science and Dakshin Foundation, Bangalore have been monitoring the mass nesting beach at Rushikulya since 2007. This nearly two-decade long dataset shows an increasing nesting trend, suggesting that the population here is growing. In 2025, Rushikulya saw two arribadas – the first was the largest ever recorded here, with over 500,000 nests. With two large arribadas in Rushikulya, and one in Gahirmatha, there were about 1 million nests in Odisha last year.
However, the sizes of these arribadas and the total nests in a season are bound to vary because these sea turtles do not nest annually. Hence, the failure of the arribada does not mean that the population is declining or that protection agencies such as the Forest Department are not doing their job. Perhaps fewer turtles migrated during that year or their nesting was more dispersed. This is why long-term monitoring is invaluable.
Efforts by the Forest Department and Coast Guard have helped reduce bycatch over the last decade. While turtle deaths in fishing nets still occur, this does not seem to be affecting the population trends. In fact, the increase in sea turtle deaths can simply derive from their larger population size, which results in higher densities in nearshore waters.
Though the mortality might not be affecting the population size, conservationists can still seek to reduce it. As many studies have shown, Olive Ridley turtles are typically found within 4 to 5 km of the coast during the breeding season. Odisha has marine fishing regulations that ban fishing by large mechanised boats within these nearshore waters. All that is required is the implementation of these laws in all states.
It should be noted that many of these laws were passed in the 1980s to protect these nearshore habitats from bottom trawling and to safeguard the livelihoods of traditional and artisanal fishermen. Thus, the implementation of these laws can protect ecosystems, marine resources and the livelihoods of small-scale fishing communities. As a side effect, sea turtles will also be protected.
Thus, we can go from “incidental catch” to “incidental conservation”. In fact, restricting access to fishing grounds for small-scale fishers and affecting their livelihoods is unnecessary. They can be made partners in the conservation of sea turtles and nearshore ecosystems which they rely on.
While Olive Ridley turtles on the Odisha coast are not immediately in danger, many important challenges such as climate change, coastal development and pollution remain. These need to be tackled keeping in mind the larger picture of healthy ecosystems and communities.
The writer is faculty at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and Trustee, Dakshin Foundation. He has worked on sea turtle biology and conservation for 35 years.
