At least 19 people were arrested for fishing near a turtle nesting site at Gahirmatha in Kendrapada district on Monday.
They were caught fishing in the prohibited area of the marine sanctuary, Divisional Forest Officer Kedar Kumar Swain said. Two mechanised trawlers were also seized, he said. This was the second arrest in the sanctuary after a seven-month fishing ban came into effect from November 1.
The Government has imposed the ban along 120 km of the State’s 480-km coastline to protect Olive Ridley sea turtles, which come to the beaches for nesting during the winter season. The ban remains effective till May 31.
The Gahirmatha marine sanctuary is one of the world’s largest turtle nesting sites, where about a half a million endangered Olive Ridley turtles congregate in the seawaters between October and November and nest between December and March. Turtles have already arrived for mating this season.
Although the main threat to the turtles is mechanised fishing trawlers in which they get entangled, turtle mortality has been on a decline as a result of patrolling off and along the coast. However, carcasses of about three or four turtles have been spotted since November 1 this year at various places on the coast, Swain said.