The beaches at Gahirmatha marine sanctuary instead of being beacons of new life have turned into a mass graveyard due to illegal fishing by the fishermen who come in giant trawlers for catching fish.
Hundreds of Olive Ridley sea turtle carcasses are lying dispersed along the stretch of beach covering Ekakula, Satabhaya, Habalikhati and Nasi-I coasts in the ongoing turtle season and bad odour emits from the dead turtles. It has created an unhygienic atmosphere.
But the Forest officials claim that the turtles’ death toll is on the lower side this time at Gahirmatha due to the tight vigil and surveillance on trawl fishing. However, the ground reality is something different and grim.
If sources are to be believed as the southern wind is going on for last couple of days, so more than 70 Olive Ridley carcasses were lying in the sandy beaches from Paradip to Dhamara. The wildlife activists argue that turtles are dying en masse in several strategic locations and the accidental death of the mute animals is due to uninterrupted trawling at the sanctuary.
The endangered Olive Ridley turtles, protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, grow up to 75 centimeters (25 inches) in length and the turtle is found in the tropical regions of the pacific, Antlantic and Indian oceans. Turtles are killed when they are trapped and get entangled in the nets of mechanized fishing vessels during the mating season, which starts from December to March.
Though the State Forest Department has prohibited fishing within 20 km radius of the sea coast, but the illegal fishing is going on in the banned zone despite the tall claim by the Forest department.
Though the Forest personnel have been intercepting illegal vessels, but there are several high power mechanised trawlers fishing uninterrupted within Gahirmatha. Apart from this, about 80 trawler drivers belong to Tantiapala area, located near the Gahirmatha Marine Range office. When the Forest personnel go for sea patrolling, their relatives and family members make them alert. As a result, most of the time the Forest personnel fail to intercept boats.
According to sources, as many as 661 turtle carcasses were reported within Bhitarkanika from November 1, 2014 to February 19 last. In the ongoing turtle season as many as 23 sea worthy fishing vessels have been seized and 152 fishermen have been arrested.