Marine CWT

The illegal trade of some marine species threatens the marine wildlife that is critical to the health of coastal and marine ecosystems, including sharks traded for their fins, rays traded for their skins and gill plates, seahorses, and sea cucumbers traded as traditional medicines. Many of the marine species are protected under wildlife protection act as well as through international conventions like CITES. However, unlike terrestrial wildlife trade, not all marine species are targeted for harvest, and many are incidental catches during regular fishing activities.

We are working to identify capacity needs of all the stakeholders and build capacity by strengthening communication channels for better cooperation and collaboration. These baseline generation and capacity building activities are being carried out bring compliance to the national and international laws to reduce the unsustainable harvest of CITES-listed marine species.

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Team

Avadhoot Dilip Velankar

Avadhoot completed his PhD on the population status and resource utilisation of long-tailed macaques in the Nicobar Islands and has since 2006 worked in diverse biomes including the Himalayas, Oceanic Islands, Western Ghats, and arid ecosystems. These experiences have allowed him to address ecological and ethological issues, contribute to flora and fauna conservation, and explore human-wildlife interactions, developing expertise in advanced statistical, geospatial, and socio-economic techniques. During his fieldwork in the Nicobar Islands, he collaborated with indigenous communities, gaining valuable insights into their relationship with coastal and marine ecosystems. As a UN volunteer on UNDP projects, he focused on mainstreaming coastal and marine biodiversity conservation on India's coasts, and he now hopes to contribute to WCS-India’s Marine Programme.

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Brindhaa R

Brindhaa is working as a Project Assistant with the WCS-India Marine team. She completed her master's degree in marine biology and Oceanography from Annamalai University. She joined the WCS-India Marine team in 2023 as an intern under the Marine Megafauna Program. During her internship, she helped organize a workshop and conducted a literature review on marine megafauna bycatch. With a strong passion for coastal and marine biodiversity conservation, Brindhaa aims to support the conservation goals of WCS-India through her work.

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Jaydeep Prakash Bhelke

Jaydeep recently completed his Master’s in Wildlife Conservation Action from Bharati Vidyapeeth Institute of Environment Education and Research. He worked on the topic “Illegal trade of marine species around the coastline of Maharashtra”, which gives the overall hotspot location of IUU fishing within Maharashtra. His interests are in wildlife crime investigation and research.

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Rebecca Lewis

Rebecca Lewis is a Marine Analyst in the Counter Marine Wildlife Trafficking Programme. Rebecca has completed her Master's in Biodiversity, Wildlife Conservation and Management from Bhavans College-Andheri, Mumbai, and before joining WCS-India she has worked as a research assistant with the Blackkite project with the Wildlife Institute of India. Her broad interests are in wildlife trafficking, marine ecosystems and urban wildlife and in future she would like to work on issues related to biodiversity conservation. 

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Credits: Photo - Joydeep Sarkar (Cover)