Tending turtles
the Indian government plans to adopt a strategy to counter moves by industrialised countries to install green barriers to trade, as had happened when the us had imposed an embargo on shrimp imports from countries like India in 1995. This is because in these countries, no law urges the fisherfolk to protect turtles like the Loggerhead, Kemp's Ridley, Olive Ridley, Green, Hawksbill and Leather-back varieties.
While on one hand, the government has taken the us to the World Trade Organization's (wto) dispute panel contesting the shrimp export ban, on the other hand, it has recently decided to issue a notification making the use of turtle excluder devices (ted), which allow turtles to escape if they get trapped in fishing nets, compulsory while fishing.
Interestingly, the ministry of environment and forests says that it has been recommending the use of teds since 1994. According to a recent official estimate, up to 10,000 turtles are killed annually along Orissa's coast for the lack of teds.