Divers Find Proof of Ghost Net Impact on Turtle, Reef

A group of scuba divers recently captured stark visuals of a dead Olive Ridley turtle entangled in a massive discarded trawl net at the Kovalam artificial reef site, exposing the continued threat posed by bottom trawling to marine ecosystems along the Chennai coast.

- SV KRISHNA CHAITANYA @ Chennai

The divers, during a routine recreational dive over the weekend, found a giant ghost net covering a large portion of the reef and a dead adult Olive Ridley – believed to be a nesting turtle – trapped in it. The reef is located just 1.5 nautical miles from the shore, a zone where bottom trawling is prohibited under the Tamil Nadu Marine Fishing Regulation Act (TNMFRA).

The visuals serve as hard evidence linking such illegal fishing practices to the large number of turtle deaths reported earlier this year. Nearly 1,200 Olive Ridleys were found dead along the Chennai coast in January and February.