Hi Abhishek,
This is very distressing , was not aware shore seine are creating this much trouble. I have seen some shore seine used locally which have a wider mesh and did not result in as much by catch as compared to the shrimp nets used in trawlers. They are used in specific seasons for specific catch. Even the nets used in the traditional boats called vanchee used to have a wider mesh compared to the nets used on trawlers and hence much less by catch. By and large sea snakes seemed to figure much less in the bycatch list compared to fish with less or no commercial value and other crustaceans, turtles and marine mammals.

Most fishermen in these parts used to agree that sea snakes caught in the nets were simply thrown back into the water and I remember seeing this many times. However the snakes which got entangled in the nets are usually killed and cut free from the net as trying to free an entangled sea snake is considered risky, but the free ones are usually thrown back into the sea and I have even seen some being handled with bare hands. These creatures are considered harmless by the fishermen as they rarely bite. The interesting part is that in the smaller boats while most of the fish and other creatures died due to suffocation, the snakes usually survived and ended up in the water once again. It has been sometime since I have gone out into the sea on these boats, im not sure if this has changed around here.
How prevalent is this wanton killing of sea snakes is matter which needs be looked at as in some coastal cultures killing of these reptiles is considered a sin. This might again not apply to some communities and also might have changed in the recent generations with the demand and competition increasing, catch reducing and patience and tolerance wearing. Sea snakes have a market in china and some other far eastern countries and are actively netted for. This demand does not seem to have yet reached the Indian shores unlike the shark fin. If and when it does this will turn into a much bigger problem.

TFS
Roopak