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More trouble for the Olive Ridley turtles

Bibhuti Mishra in Bhubaneswar

Olive Ridley turtles are threatened yet again by unrestricted fishing within the prohibited zone of the Orissa coast.

Mechanised trawlers plough through the turtles that congregate for mating and nesting in winter, leaving many dead. Last year, 12,000 turtles died. This year, the toll could be higher.

In fact, a recent survey of the Wildlife Society of Orissa shows there is reason for alarm: Hundreds of dead turtles were found along the coast near the river mouth at Paradeep, on the Puri-Konark coast, near Devi river mouth and along the Jagatsinghpur coastline.

The WSO secretary Biswajit Mohanty blames the nexus between the government and the powerful trawler lobby for the situation.

"The turtle casualty could be in thousands this year because some trawlers come in as close as 200 metres from the shore and trap as many as 25 turtles in one haul," he says.

The Orissa Marine Fisheries Regulation Act, 1982 prohibits fishing within five kilometres of the coast. The government has been ineffective in implementing it strictly and uncontrolled trawling goes on unchecked.

In a landmark judgment in 1998 Orissa High court had made the use of a Turtle Extruder Device mandatory to ensure the animals were not affected. But the trawlers don't carry these devices and the government has not cancelled their licenses.

The fisheries department claims it can do little about it.

"Rules are fine but how do they get implemented? The court has passed orders and we've also passed orders. But the devices are yet to be designed. And what can the fisheries department do to carry out surveillance?

"We have no patrolling vessels and we cannot be expected to police the trawlers. So, unfortunate though it is, this situation will continue," says a top official of the fisheries department.

And while the government waffles and the environmentalists wail, more and more turtles get smashed beneath the screws of the trawlers.

EARLIER REPORT:
Move to save Olive Ridley turtles backfires

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