Tech4Nature Award Winner: Protecting India's Olive Ridley Turtles
At the inaugural IUCN-Huawei Tech4Nature Awards in 2025, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) won the Species Protection Award for its Fisher Friend Mobile Application solution. In this guest post, Dr. Velvizhi Singaravelu, Area Director of the Coastal Resources and Fisheries Programme for M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, explains how the app enables communities and coastal conservation to thrive together.
Fishing communities along Odisha’s coastline have long faced a delicate challenge: protecting endangered Olive Ridley Turtles while sustaining their livelihoods. Every year, these turtles migrate for mass nesting along Odisha’s shores, prompting the government to establish no-fishing zones near key river mouths and marine sanctuaries. However, without tools to identify these zones, fishers often unknowingly entered restricted areas, resulting in fines, boat seizures, and ecological damage. This dual struggle of protecting biodiversity and ensuring fisher livelihoods called for an innovative solution.
The Fisher Friend Mobile Application (FFMA) supports India’s coastal fishers with real-time data on sea conditions, fishing zones, navigation, and more in 8 local dialects.
FFMA includes a No Fishing Zone alert to protect endangered Olive Ridley Turtles along Odisha’s coast.
No fishing zones / Image source: MSSRF
Using geo-fencing, it marks critical turtle habitats, including the Gahirmatha Sanctuary and key river mouths, triggers audio messages, and vibrates when fishers approach within 200 meters, even without Internet. This offline feature helps fishers avoid fines and supports turtle conservation by preventing unintended fishing in restricted zones. Since its launch, the No Fishing Zone alert has prevented 6,866 intrusions, aligning conservation with sustainable fishing and supporting fisher livelihoods and safety.
App interface / Image source: MSSRF
FFMA’s technology ensures that fishers benefit from safer, eco-friendly practices while contributing to the preservation of biodiversity in India’s coastal zones.
Training fishers how to use smartphones and navigating the app ensures they can fully leverage its features. Capacity building enables fishers to understand and apply the information provided by FFMA such as weather forecasts, market trends, and fishing advisories.
When fishers are confident in using FFMA, they are more likely to adopt and regularly use the features they want in the application. By understanding how to use FFMA, fishers can make informed decisions about fishing operations, safety, and market engagement. Capacity building also empowers them to troubleshoot issues, provide feedback, and contribute to the application's ongoing development and improvement.
Challenges addressed
- Environmental: Olive Ridley Turtles are endangered, and their nesting sites along Odisha’s coast face threats from fishing activities. Using geo-fencing, FFMA’s No Fishing Zone alert helps prevent unintended fishing in these critical habitats, supporting turtle conservation and ecosystem health.
- Social: Fishers often lack clear guidance on restricted areas, risking fines and local conflicts when they unknowingly enter protected zones. Accessible offline and in regional languages, FFMA’s real-time alerts empower fishers with the knowledge to avoid these zones, enhancing community harmony and safety at sea.
- Economic: Fishers face economic strain from fines, equipment damage, and loss of fishing access when encroaching on restricted areas. FFMA reduces these risks by providing precise no-fishing alerts, helping fishers protect their incomes while aligning with conservation efforts.
A local fisherman uses the FFMA app / Image source: MSSRF
Impact
- Environmental: The No Fishing Zone alert has triggered 6,866 alerts across six districts — Ganjam (3,502), Kendrapara (1,241), Jagatsinghpur (90), Puri (992), Balasore (14), and Bhadrak (1,027) as of November 2024, significantly reducing unintentional fishing in critical nesting sites and aiding turtle conservation.
- Social: FFMA’s technology empowers Odisha’s fishers by providing accurate, real-time alerts on restricted zones, fostering compliance with conservation laws and building trust between fishers and authorities. Fishers report increased awareness of marine protection zones, which has reduced accidental violations and promoted safer, community-friendly fishing practices.
- Economic: FFMA helps fishers avoid costly penalties, loss of fishing gear, and potential income disruptions by guiding them away from no-fishing zones. Additionally, features like weather forecasts, disaster alerts, and navigation support have improved safety at sea, helping fishers reduce operational risks, save on fuel, and make more informed decisions.
An Olive Ridley turtle / Image source: MSSRF
Further reading
M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation [www.mssrf.org]
Panorama Solutions [profiles and promotes cutting-edge nature conservation solutions, including the three IUCN-Huawei Tech4Nature Award winning solutions]
The Tech4Nature Award [blog post]
About the Author
Dr. Velvizhi Singaravelu, Area Director of the Coastal Resources and Fisheries Programme for the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation
Dr. S. Velvizhi, a scientist and conservation practitioner, boasts 23 years of experience in small-scale fisheries development, holding a Ph.D. in Marine Biology and Oceanography. Since 2002, she has worked tirelessly with small-scale marine fishing communities on India’s coastal state, undertaking extensive research and developmental work to address the issues faced by small scale fishers related to marine biodiversity conservation, fisheries management, food security, climate changes, and gender mainstreaming.
Dr. Velvizhi is the lead team member for developing the PAN INDIA Fisher Friend Mobile Application. The app addresses the real and near time needs of small scale fishers, connecting conservation and livelihoods by influencing policy stakeholders for nationwide scaling up. She has used mixed technologies to reach unreached people and provide conservation and marine fishery advisory services communities.
She has completed 20+ research and development projects and travelled to ten countries. Her dedication earned her prestigious awards: Dr. Ambedkar Award (2010), Spark Pancharatna Award (2020), Women Achiever Award, K. Chidambaram Memorial Award (2021), and Women in STEM (Research Category) Award (2023).
Disclaimer: Any views and/or opinions expressed in this post by individual authors or contributors are their personal views and/or opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views and/or opinions of Huawei Technologies.
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