Post News Network
Puri, May 5: Altogether 1,198 Olive Ridley turtles have laid eggs along the coast here and 3,181 turtles have been killed by illegal movement of trawlers in the coastal sea during the just-ended breeding season, forest department sources said.
Fortytwo turtles have laid eggs on Chandrabhaga beach whereas 163 have laid eggs at Kuanarpur beach. About 312 tortoises and 681 have laid eggs on Jahania and Debinasi coast respectively. Forest officials have collected 94,597 turtle eggs and shifted them to four artificial hatcheries set up on the coast. Around 43,000 baby turtles have been hatched and released into the sea, claimed forest department sources.
According to forest department sources, 1,771 male turtles and 1,410 female turtles died after they were entangled in the fishing nets of trawlers. Private sources, however, repudiated the forest department data and claimed that more than 5,000 turtles have perished due to mechanised fishing boats in operation along the coast.
According to sources, the state government had prohibited fishing through mechanised trawlers and mechanised boats within five kilometres off the coast from November last year to May this year for the safe breeding of turtles. However, hundreds of trawlers and mechanised boats flouted the official order and carried out fishing activities disturbing the natural phenomenon in the prohibited zone.
Forest department personnel, however, said 500 turtles had laid 60,494 eggs in the coastal zone last year. Besides, the carcases of 1,316 turtles were recovered from the beach. “The forest department tried its best to provide a safe breeding season to the turtles this year. Consequently, the coast witnessed the arrival of more number of turtles for nesting,” said divisional forest officer Chittaranjan Mishra.
