Venomous reptiles, which get caught in fishermen's net and die, are natural caretakers of marine ecosystem.
A first of its kind detailed study on venomous sea snakes is being conducted in Maharashtra. The study is not only trying to understand the impact of fishing practices on sea snakes in Sindhudurg district, but also their ecology and status.
Sea snakes inhabit near shore waters and their diet is fish. They act as natural caretakers of the marine ecosystem by controlling the fish population. Globally, a lot of noise is being made by conservationists over their decline due to poaching and extensive fishing.This study, sanctioned by Maharashtra State Mangrove Cell under the GOI-UNDP-GEF Sindhudurg Project
"Our study is limited to Devgadh, Malwan and Vengurla as these three witness extensive fishing. Fishermen themselves have told us that during peak season in one single catch nearly 50 sea snakes are caught in the nets and many end up getting killed," said wildlife biologist Chetan Rao. He added that the study will throw light on aspects like the diversity of sea snakes, their mortality rates, important areas as well as the perception of the local communities towards the species.
The team that finished its field work in May accompanied fishermen during their regular fishing trips to record catch, especially the numbers and species of sea snakes caught in nets. They also interviewed fishermen to gain an insight.
"Sea snakes get entangled in the nets laid by trawlers and they are also susceptible to pollution and excessive fishing, which may lead to local extinction as the sea snake population is highly localised. In our study so far, we have only found two species — Hooknose sea snake and Spine bellied sea snake. The latter is far more susceptible to dying in the nets," shared Rao who is heading this study, adding that the venom of Hooknose is said to be more potent than that of a cobra.
The researchers who kept checking the catch in the nets observed that in most cases two different species of sea snakes were never found caught together.
All the data estimates, including their diversity and catch, will be compiled and this will help assess the conservation status for these data deficient species. They also plan to provide information in the form of booklets and posters to help fishermen identify sea snakes.
The biologists plan to work closely with the community. "Fishermen are most vulnerable as there are high chances of them being bitten while they are removing fishes or sea snakes stuck in their nets. Hence, we also want to create a lot of awareness on this issue as most of this bite could occur when the fisherman was in mid sea," informed Rao adding that none of the fishermen were killing the sea snakes on purpose.
There are more than 55 species of sea snakes found in the Indian Ocean making them one of the most diverse of all the marine reptile fauna. The biologists claimed that this long-term study will also help build up a long-time data set as well as help and monitor the changes to sea snakes population and diversity along the West coast.
What are sea snakes
Sea snakes are extremely venomous marine reptiles and the species found in India can vary from 2 ft to 5 ft long. They have a single lung and have to come to the surface to breathe. Hence, when caught in the fishing nets most of them die due to drowning. The sea snakes are known to give birth to live young ones directly.
Why sea snakes are important
Sea snakes inhabit near shore waters and their diet is fish. They act as natural caretakers of the marine ecosystem by controlling fish population. They mostly feed on fishes that are herbivores and feed on phytoplankton and thus help indirectly in avoid overgrasing of phytoplankton. They also act as a source of prey to larger carnivores such as sharks, sea eagles and others. If the population of sea snakes is affected, the ecosystem will be imbalanced and its cascading effect may result in lowering of fish population from the area which in turn may affect fishermen.
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