Visakhapatnam: Indian Coast Guard has launched ‘Operation Olivia’ to support the efforts of forest officials under provisions of the Marine Fishing Regulatory Act of Odisha.
The operation will commence from November 1 and continue to May 31, 2019 in order to reduce a major threat to the Olive Ridley turtles posed by fishing activity along the coast of Odisha.
These operations have been undertaken since the past 20 years by the ICG to prevent death of Olive Ridley turtles along the coast by illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing without using Turtle Excluder Device and laying gill nets under its mandate for preservation and protection of marine environment.
The coast of Odisha is the largest mass nesting site for the Olive Ridley turtles in the world and is unique in the sense that the newborn turtles come back to the same place for breeding after attaining adulthood.
The Olive Ridley turtles arrive at beaches of Odisha coast annually between November and December and stay on till April and May for nesting. The turtles choose the narrow beaches near estuaries and bays for laying their eggs in Gahirmatha Sanctuary at the same place every year.
Each adult female lays approximately 100 to 140 eggs at a time.
Headquarters, Eastern Seaboard in a statement said that the during last year’s Operation Olivia 2017, the Indian Coast Guard's ship efforts stood at 191 ship days and fishing community were sensitised about preserving the species through community interaction programme undertaken by ICG along with marine police, fisheries and forest department.
