E-Paper
Odisha told to enforce prohibition of fishing around turtle nesting sites
The Orissa high court last month registered a PIL suo motu over media reports that 800 Olive Ridleys perished in Gahirmatha marine sanctuary in Odisha since January this year.
Taking note of the high mortality of Olive Ridley marine turtles on Odisha coast due to fishing trawlers, a division bench of Orissa high court on Tuesday asked the state government to enforce prohibition of fishing activities by trawlers near Devi river mouth with the help of marine police station and Coast Guard. The bench headed by chief justice S Murlidhar also ordered the state government to provide the three marine police stations of Talachua, Tantiapal and Jamboo with sea-patrolling boats and additional force for the protection of Gahirmatha marine sanctuary that has the largest rookery of the Olive Ridley sea turtles.
“The mortality of the turtles along the Odisha coast is mainly due to trawling operations. There is incidental killing of the turtles due to suffocation in fishing nets of trawlers or by injuries inflicted by the propellers of the trawlers. Enforcement activities should be continued to prevent the movement and fishing by trawlers in the prohibited area of Devi River mouth and Gahirmatha,” the HC said.
The court last month registered a PIL suo motu over media reports that 800 Olive Ridleys perished in Gahirmatha marine sanctuary since January this year. The Olive Ridleys, protected under Schedule I of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, come to Odisha coast every year for mass nesting when lakhs of pregnant females choose narrow beaches at Gahirmatha, Devi river mouth and Rushikulya river mouth to lay eggs. Each adult female lays approximately 100-140 eggs at a time. In March this year, around 8 lakh turtles laid eggs in Rushikulya and Gahirmatha sites.
Accepting the recommendations of a three-member committee that it had formed to look into the issue of deaths of Olive Ridley sea turtles along the Odisha coast, the HC said no-fishing zones should be clearly demarcated.
“The nesting beach at Gahirmatha should be fenced up at the landward side at the end of the beach with temporary wire mesh over a length of 3 kilometres to protect the nesting Olive Ridleys, eggs and hatchlings from predators like feral dogs, wild pigs, jackals and hyenas. The existing temporary fencing at Goharkuda Purunabandha beach should be strengthened likewise,” the HC said.
The court also said the boundary of Gahirmatha marine sanctuary with its geo-coordinates should be uploaded in GPS systems of all fishing boats by the fisheries department so that their movement in the sea can be clearly recorded.
“The state government will initiate a discussion with the Indian Space Research Organisation on the feasibility of installing transponders in all mechanized fishing vessels and trawlers to enable their tracking in the sea. This has already been done in Tamil Nadu,” the HC said.
Quoting the reports of chief wildlife warden of Odisha, the HC said more than 46,000 Olive Ridley turtles have been killed on Odisha coast in last 10 years, of which, 60% deaths have happened at the rookery near Devi river mouth. It was
estimated that the current mortality continues to be at the rate of about 4,000 to 7,000 Olive Ridley sea turtles every year.
Earlier, the HC-appointed committee said in their report to the court that there was no point in emphasising the use of Turtle Excluder Devices on fishing trawlers on the coast as its enforcement has been extremely difficult.
