People can always find
arguments why something might not work. The history of science is full of
cases of people being told things were impossible. Preservationists are
adept in finding arguments against experimental projects for sustainable
use of resources. The IUCN Marine Turtle Specialist Group (MTSG), while
paying lip service to sustainable use, has a dismal record in terms of
actually helping and fostering creative investigation of such options (cf
Campbell submitted). In the past, it failed to get involved in the very
conservative egg harvesting system at Ostional, Costa Rica. More recently,
it has set up a sustainable use task force that is virtually
non-functional. If people in India wish to try new approaches in Orissa,
they should not look to the present MTSG for help. Their efforts would have
to be powered by their own conviction that something new needs trying, and
that by using their own expertise it is possible to achieve something
better than the present waste.
The reasons for conservation need to be thought about. Is the aim to
preserve arribadas for their own sake only, or to preserve the resource so
that it can be used, or both? If use of the resource is part of the aim,
the present wastage of eggs on the beach shows that some use is already
possible. And of course some use is currently being made of this resource.
But this is largely haphazard, illegal, and not well monitored, very
different from the kind of controlled and conservative use outlined in Figure-1.
The alternatives also
need to be assessed realistically, as well as idealistically. Despite
progress and hopeful signs (Wright et al. 2001), enforcement of wildlife
laws is likely to be partial, because with unemployment, the need for
better health care, infra structure maintenance, and numerous other
demands, there are often higher priorities for governments. Moreover,
suppose enforcement were totally effective and that fishing boats and gill
nets were eliminated from the area. That would not address the waste on the
beaches of eggs, those neat packages of protein conveniently delivered to
the shore.
I grew up in the war. As children we were taught that waste was one of
the worst most sinful offenses. For some people on the margins of
existence, it is always wartime for survival. The present juxtaposition of
need and waste is disturbing.
The phenomenon of these massive arribadas is so striking, that even from
a distance some of the main biological aspects stand out clearly. Various
details cannot be discerned and the human social factors appear nebulous,
complex. No detailed prescriptions are offered. It is only asked that all
types of option for the ridley arribadas be seriously considered, that
undoctrinaire and open-minded discussion occur, that people ask themselves
if they are comfortable with the present situation and if there is any way
in which triple waste can be transformed into triple gain.
