KENDRAPARA: The Odisha government will impose a seven-month-long ban on fishing activities from Tuesday in an area spanning 20 km from the mouths of rivers Dhamara, Devi and Rusikulya, marking the beginning of the nesting season of Olive Ridley turtles, an official said.
The prohibition is clamped every year -- from November 1-May 31 -- to ensure the turtles don't get entangled in fishing nets or come under the propellers of trawlers, the forest official said.
A multi-layered patrolling exercise, involving forest and fisheries departments, and the marine police, besides the coast guard personnel, will be carried out near the river mouths to keep a check on unlawful activities, he stated on Monday.
Five high-speed boats, 13 trawlers and support boats are being pressed into service to intercept illegal fishing trawlers in prohibited zones, said the forest official.
The state government has decided to extend one-time livelihood assistance of Rs 7,500 to the affected fishermen families in view of the ban.
At Gahirmatha coast here, which is known to be the largest rookery for these endangered species, a blanket ban on sea-fishing remains enforced round the year, the official pointed out.
During the nesting season, the female turtles invade the beaches usually at the dead of the night for laying eggs, the phenomenon otherwise described as 'arribada'.
After laying eggs, the turtles leave the nesting ground to stride into the deep sea.
Hatchlings emerge from these eggs after 45-60 days.