Fishermen attending the awareness programme

Mallipatinam, May 24, 2015: WTI through its Rapid Action Project (RAP) is conducting awareness programmes in the Palk Bay region of Tamil Nadu to conserve sea horses. The programme aims to raise awareness amongst fishing community, NGOs, Community Based Organizations (CBOs), academic institutions and line departments. Three awareness campaigns have been held so far with approximately 37 fishermen participating in each.

The RAP ‘Involving local fishing communities to help conserve sea horses in Palk Bay’ was sanctioned in February 2015. The project site is the fishing villages in Palk Bay, Tamil Nadu. This will be carried out in the 10 fishing villages which are involved in high level exploitation of seahorses. In India, 75% of the seahorse catches and illegal trade exits from Palk Bay region. In order to curb this threat to their populations, it was deemed important to make the fishermen in the region aware of their plight. The RAP would also help in crafting a management plan for the conservation of seahorses based on scientific and community perception.

The first awareness programme was conducted on May 24, 2015, in Mallipatinam. Dr P Vijayanadh, Assistant Professor, Centre of Advanced Study in Marine Biology, Annamalai University, explained in detail about seahorse biology, ecology, medicinal value and why it is important to conserve the seahorse and its habitat. He also urged the fishermen to release any seahorses caught as by-catch, explaining that the release of one male seahorse carrying a brood could mean that anything between 150–1200 hatchlings could potentially be released into the sea.

The fishermen were also informed that since these creatures are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, it is illegal to trade in them or to kill them. Handouts in Tamil were also given out with information on seahorses and their importance to the fishermen present for further reading.

Experts talking to villagers about the need to conserve sea horses

Each meeting was followed by an intensive question and answer session where the project team answered a variety of questions like how long can a seahorse stay alive onboard? How does seahorse conservation benefit us? The session ended on a positive note with the fishermen, along with their village headmen, promising to conserve the seahorse and release any sea horse caught into the sea. They also formed watch teams that will report any illegal activities concerning the seahorse to the authorities. The watch teams along with the pledges given by the fishermen will help curb the rampant destruction of seahorse habitat as well as their populations.

After completion of the project, a report will be presented to the State Forest Department outlining the main areas where fishing of seahorses is carried out, mapping of these sites along with conservation measures that can be implemented in the long term to sustain seahorse populations.

Fisher folk patiently listening to experts during one of the workshops

Palk Bay is a shallow region and possesses a dense cover of sea grass and macro algae strands. The Palk bay ecosystem and its associated habitats act as a good feeding and breeding ground for varied species of seahorses. Among the marine fish species, seahorses (Hippocampus spp.) is among the first species of commercial importance listed in CITES. A large and growing trade in seahorses for traditional medicines, aquarium fishes and curiosities is contributing to declines in their populations across the region.

Fishing, in India, near the coastal region has been carried out by the artisanal sectors (bottom set gill nets) and in deeper water by the mechanized sectors (shrimp and fish trawl nets). These fishing practices bring a huge quantity of sea grass to the shore hence destroying the habitat. In Palk Bay, the shallow regions are exploited by drag nets, trammel nets and bottom trawl nets up to depths of 28 metres. The wide collection of seahorse and their biological characteristics (low fecundity, male brooding) makes them vulnerable to population depletion.