Supporting a sanctuary for seagrasses in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay.

In November 2011, MFF India and Suganthi Devadason Marine Research Institute (SDMRI) embarked on a small grant project to support a strategy to conserve and manage seagrass habitats in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay. The study was conducted in the area outside of the Marine National Park, between Rameswaram and Tuticorin in the Gulf of Mannar; in Palk Bay, surveying was conducted from Thondi to Athiramapattinan. An assessment of current status of seagrass habitats in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay was conducted, followed by fishermen surveys to determine the status of dugongs in the region. 107 fisher folk, predominantly youth, from 4 villages were capacity built to report dugong sightings on a period basis. 

Amongst other findings the study determined that although the majority of species are the same between the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay, there are a few species that differ. Halophila decipiens was only found in Palk Bay. Holophilia ovate, Halodule univeris and Enhalus acoroides were found in the Gulf of Mannar but not Palk Bay. This insinuates that the management plans for the region will need to differ in some aspects with regard to ensuring that the varied floral diversity of the two regions is conserved. Further to this, it is apparent that dugong populations in both Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay still persist. In both regions between 60 to 80% of respondents were convinced that the populations are dropping drastically, attributing trawling to being a major cause for this trend.

Recommendations from this study will be presented to the state forest departments for better management of the seagrass ecosystems in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay. A detailed report of the project findings can be found on the right hand side of this webpage.