Paradip, Nov. 1: The state government has decided to compensate fishermen who are affected by the periodic prohibition on marine fishing.

The blanket ban on fishing activities is initiated to facilitate breeding of olive ridley sea turtles. However, it affects the livelihood of over 2,000 fishermen from Kendrapara, Ganjam and Puri districts. Therefore to financially help them, the government has decided to pay them an amount of Rs 5,000 per annum.

"The sole objective is to provide financial assistance to poor marine fishermen who are adversely affected by the ban imposed on account of sea turtle protection and marine fisheries resources conservation," said deputy director, marine fisheries, Basant Kumsar Das.

A new scheme - Livelihood Support to Marine Fishermen During Fishing Ban Periods - would be operational very shortly to strengthen the livelihood of the fishermen, said an official.

"We are happy as the government has decided to extend monetary aid to us, but Rs 5,000 is too less to make up for our loss. The sum of the financial assistance needs to be revised. We are losing almost two-third of the fishing season each year. People living on sea-fishing have taken up different income sources," said a fisherman from Paradip, Radhakant Maiti.

Keeping in view the dipping income sources of the affected fishermen, the state government had earlier launched Rice for Olive Ridley Conservation Programme. The beneficiary families are being provided 25kg rice every month at Re 1-a-kg, said another official.

Over 8,000 marine fishermen families from the seaside villages of Kendrapara, Ganjam, Puri are being covered under the social security scheme, said additional fisheries officer of Paradip, Bharat Bhusan Sahoo.

In accordance with the Odisha Marine Fisheries Regulatory Act, 1983, the prohibitory orders on sea fishing remains effective from November 1 to May 31.

The legal embargo on fishing remains in force to ensure the safety of breeding turtles who perish in large number either by getting entangled in mono-filament fishing nets or by getting hit by propellers of fishing trawls.