By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : At least 10 fishermen from West Bengal were arrested for fishing in the prohibited area of a turtle nesting site in Orissa’s Kendrapada district, officials said Sunday. Forest and coast guard personnel caught the fishermen when they were fishing within 20 km off the Gahirmatha sanctuary, some 174 km from here, Saturday evening, forest officer P.K. Behera told IANS.
The Gahirmatha sanctuary is one of the world’s largest turtle nesting sites, where 700,000 to 800,000 endangered Olive Ridley turtles nest every winter.
The two other turtle nesting sites in Orissa are the Devi river in Puri district and the Rushikulya river in Ganjam district.
The state government has banned all types of fishing within 20 km off the shore near the nesting site from Nov 1 to May 31 to protect the turtles.