Two Olive Ridley turtles off Rushikulya river mouth. Picture by Gopal Krishna Reddy

Berhampur, Dec. 6: Environmentalists and experts are concerned over reports of Olive Ridley turtles getting killed by illegal trawlers near Rushikulya rookery in Ganjam.

“Congregation and mating of the sea turtles started from November 1,” said Rabindranath Sahu, secretary of the Rushikulya Sea Turtle Protection Committee, which works on the protection of Olive Ridley turtles.

But, many of the reptiles have been killed by fishing trawlers mainly from Andhra Pradesh, which illegally operate in prohibited waters. Odisha coast is fast becoming a graveyard for Olive Ridley turtles as several carcasses of this endangered species have been found on the coastline.

Not a single trawler in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh uses the turtle excluder device which would have saved lives of thousands of turtles, he said. “Though four departments, coast guard, forest, fisheries and marine police, are engaged to protect the turtles, the outcome is not positive,” he said.

However, assistant conservator of forests (Berhampur) Trinath Patnaik said: “We have adopted various measures to protect the turtles on Ganjam coast. One forest department trawler is keeping strict vigil over the sea in the restricted zone (20km from the coast) and no-fishing zone (10km from the coast).”

“Most of these carcasses found on our coast have floated from far away places,” he said.

“The forest department has also opened nine camps managed by two personnel each. Coast guard and the fisheries department were being involved in this operation. Police have been deployed at Purunabandha,” he said.