With a view to preventing further mortalities of Olive Ridley turtles, the Coast Guard has launched ‘Operation Olivia’ to enforce the provisions of the Marine Fishing Regulatory Act.
The operation area covers the coastal area from Porto Novo (Parangipettai) in Cuddalore district in Tamil Nadu to Nizampatnam in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh.
The Assistant Solicitor-General placed the comments and recommendatory note of the Coast Guard when a suo motu PIL plea for protection of sea turtles came up before the Madras High Court First Bench comprising Chief Justice S.K.Kaul and Justice M.M.Sundresh on Wednesday.
In February 2014, according to the note, a rare phenomenon of exceptionally high migration of Olive Ridley turtles was observed off Tamil Nadu/Andhra Pradesh coast, including sighting of a large number of turtle eggs off Nellore and Cuddalore coasts, in addition to the Marina beach.
There was a high casualty of approximately 800 turtles and washing ashore of carcasses. The steps to be undertaken under the operation included issuing a notification banning fishing by mechanised vessels and trawlers till 12 km from the coast in areas of turtle congregation; amendments to the Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh Marine Fisheries Regulatory Act and directing fishermen to install turtle excluder device in their nets.
CG drive covers coastal area from Porto Novo in Cuddalore district to Nizampatnam in Guntur district
