IAS officer Supriya Sahu has hailed the efforts of Thanjavur fishermen who did a brilliant job of setting free a dugong caught in their nets.
The Additional Chief Secretary of Environment, Climate Change & Forests under the Tamil Nadu Government shared a video on Tuesday that showed the rescue operation by the Thanjavur fisherfolk as they sent back the young Dugong which was accidentally caught in their fishing net.
Her tweet said, “Kudos to Thanjavur fisherfolk who rescued and safely released a young Dugong caught accidentally in their fishing net at Manora in Thanjavur division. Dugongs ate highly endangered. Govt. of TN has Notified India’s first Dugong Conservation Reserve in Palk Bay #TNForest vc DFO.”
Dugongs are marine mammals like manatees, rarely found in the waters of some 40 countries and territories throughout the Indo-West Pacific. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae. Its closest modern relative, Steller’s sea cow, was hunted to extinction in the 18th century.
