Great Seahorses Bolt From Coromandel [UPSC Notes]

Intense fishing over the Coromandel coast has led to the migration of sea horses towards Odisha.

In this article, you can read about Great Seahorses Bolting From Coromandel, an important topic for the UPSC GS-3 section.

Fishing in East Coast:

• The finding is based on a study published in the recent issue of the  Journal of Threatened Taxa.
• The study analyzed the specimen of a juvenile great seahorse or  Hippocampus kelloggi which was caught in the Ariyapalli fish landing centre in the Ganjam district of Odisha.
• There is immense pressure on marine resources due to overexploitation and the use of illegal methods of fishing such as bottom trawling in the southern coast.
• According to a study, the migration of sea horses is a response to intensive fishing activities in the Coromandel coast which has put immense pressure on the seahorse population.
• Seahorses move by way of rafting since they are poor swimmers by attaching to some floating substances such as algae or plastic debris which move according to the movement of ocean currents, to migrate to new places and to maintain their population.
• The study suggests that the 1300 km journey from Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar to Odisha is incited by extensive fishing pressure present in the Coromandel coast.
• The fishing intensity declines north of the Bay of Bengal off the coast of Odisha which is a major factor in the migration of seahorses.
• There has been a ban on the fishing and trading of seahorses since 2001 but despite the ban, the fishing and trading activity happens underground which increases pressure on the seahorse population.
• The seahorse population depends on local habitat to thrive and maintain their long life history traits.

Habitat of Seahorse in India:

• There are overall 46 species of seahorse present worldwide and out of 46, 12 species are present in the Indo-Pacific region.
• The coastal ecosystem of India contains nine out of 12 species found in the Indo-Pacific which thrive on different ecosystems such as seagrass, mangroves, macroalgal beds, and coral reefs. 
• The total nine species are spread across eight coastal states from Gujarat to Odisha and also in UTs of Lakshadweep and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. 
• Of the nine species, eight species including the great seahorses are in the vulnerable category of the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. 
• the population of great seahorses is declining due to Overexploitation for the following factors
  • Chinese medicines.
  • Use as ornamental fish
  • Bottom trawling and other destructive practices
  • Bycatch of fishery
• In the case of Odisha, suitable habitats for great seahorses such as coral reefs or seagrass meadows are present near the Chilika region only, so migration is not in large numbers.

Way forward:            

• Increased monitoring of coastal ecosystems and putting in place special measures to conserve the population of seahorse species.
• Stopping destructive fishing practices such as Bottom trawling and banning nets that catch seahorses.                     

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