Turning turtle

Thousands of Olive Ridleys, an endangered species of sea turtles, are being swept up dead on the Gahirmatha coast since the beginning of the year. This has set alarm bells ringing in the environment community and experts the world over have voiced concern over the issue.

Caught in the net

Why has a ban been imposed on shark hunting in particular? Interviewee:  Biswajit Mohanity

Fishing fracas

the presence of an unusually high number of bluefin tuna off the western coast of Ireland has invited a large fleet of Japanese tuna boats and a lot of trouble. Ireland's tiny maritime patrol fleet had to employ everything in its means to keep the Japanese tuna boats off its waters. Tension reached a peak towards the end of last month when the Irish patrollers seized two Japanese vessels for suspected illegal fishing.

Rulers of the waves

SEDUCED by Western biases, archaeologists and historians have neglected the rich seafaring tradition of maritime communities in the Indian Ocean area. The sciences of boat-making and navigation were acquired and painstakingly refined over generations as a logical corollary of association with the sea. And they are still in use.

Tamil catamarans go plastic

IF ONE were to visit the beach along Inchampakkam, a fishing village off the Madras-Mahabalipuram highway, one would see, amongst the wooden catamarans, a few black plastic ones.