Strike by ground level forest personnel has affected the annual 'watch and vigil' exercise on endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles along Gahirmatha marine sanctuary in Kendrapara district.
The strike by foresters and forest staff reached 14th�day today as the agitating employees, on permanent payroll of the state government, are seeking salary and status at par with their counterparts in state police.
"More than 30 foresters and forest guards, who constitute the core of turtle protection caps that have come up for safety of the endangered species, have gone on an indefinite stir resulting in a setback to protection measures," Divisional Forest Officer, Rajnagar Mangrove (Wildlife) Forest Division, Manoj Kumar Mahapatra, said.
"To keep tab on trawl intrusion, forest department had set up 16 'watch and vigil' camps. Sixty-five forest personnel were maintaining round-the-clock vigil to stop trawl intrusion and create hospitable environs for the marine animals but now manpower is reduced by 50 per cent," he said.
"We have requested the police to depute more personnel in mid-sea patrolling exercise while local youths and fishermen are helping," Mahapatra said.
The exercise to safeguard the turtles ahead of mass nesting of these marine animals is being continued in a coordinated manner with coast guard (Paradip), state marine fisheries and marine wing of state police lending helping hand in the annual turtle conservation drive, said an official.
The operation (to stop unlawful trawling) is conducted after the marine animals began their annual breeding season in November last as these delicate marine species are expected to invade the beach to lay eggs, an unique natural phenomenon otherwise described as "Arribada", in coming weeks.
Rise in mortality rate of mating turtles along the coastal water surface has led to the clamping of prohibition as the gill nets used by the trawls pose threat to breeding turtles.
The sea turtles, accorded schedule-1 animal under wildlife protection act for its highly threatened status, get entangled in nets for long period and die of asphyxiation. The turtles also perish after getting hit by propeller of fishing trawlers.
