Marking Buoys Installed To Demarcate ‘No Fishing Zone’ For Olive Ridley Turtle Nesting: Odisha Govt Tells HC

Bhubaneswar: The State fisheries department informed the Orissa High Court that steps have been taken to install marking buoys to demarcate no fishing zone at the Devi river mouth and Rushikulya river mouth.

The court was hearing a PIL it had registered suo motu on the high mortality rate of Olive Ridley turtles on the Odisha coast.

In an affidavit, deputy director Fisheries (Marine) Basanta Kumar Dash said, “In order to demarcate the fishing zone of Devi River mouth 11 marking buoys have been installed. Similarly, fabrication of 11 marking buoys has been completed and those would be installed at the earliest for demarcation of the no fishing zone at Rushikulya river mouth.”

The Fisher-friendly mobile application (FFMA) with geo-coordinates of ‘No Fishing Zone’ has been introduced by the State government for use by fishermen to get alert prior to movement of their boats into the restricted zone, he added.

The mass nesting season for Olive Ridley turtles on the Odisha coast start from the third week of February to the first week of March. After a long journey, all the way from the Indian Ocean, the turtles take rest for some days after burying the eggs. The mother turtle returns to the sea while the eggs hatch on their own and the hatchlings crawl back into the sea.