Olive Ridley turtles arrive at Rushikulya for mating

Sources said illegal fishing activities in the Rushikulya beach every year pose serious threat to the turtles who come to the rookery for breeding and nesting.

BERHAMPUR: Thousands of Olive Ridley Turtles were sighted at the mouth of Rushikulya beach for mating on Saturday. The turtles were seen in pairs near Purunabandh-Gokharkuda to Sri Bateswar sea beach.

In order to facilitate mating of the ridleys, the state forest department has made many elaborate arrangements including motor boats for patrolling in the entire beach stretch. Berhampur divisional forest officer (DFO) Amlan Kumar Nayak had inaugurated the motor boats as part of the enforcement measures last week.

“Regular patrolling has started and ban on fishing activities imposed on a 20-km radius area in the sea from Prayagi to Aryapalli village for the next seven months starting from December 1,” said Khallikote ranger Sidhartha Sankar Sahu.

Sources said illegal fishing activities in the Rushikulya beach every year pose serious threat to the turtles who come to the rookery for breeding and nesting. On many occasions, they get trapped in the nets and die. The fisheries department should initiate stricter measures to curb such illegal fishing activities, they added.