The Odisha government agencies have imposed a seven- month ban on sea fishing activity from Wednesday as the Olive Ridley sea turtle’s breeding season will soon start. As the mass nesting is about to take place, the ban has been placed along the stretch of Dhamra-Devi-Rushikulya river mouth.

The ban will remain effective until May 31and around 26,000 traditional marine fishermen in coastal Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur districts are likely to be affected.

The Orissa Marine Fishing Regulation Act (OMFRA), 1982 and provisions of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 call for the imposition of the ban. Last year, over 300 trawls and vessels were seized and around 2,000 crews arrested for flouting the ban.

Divisional Forest Officer, Rajnagar Mangrove (Wildlife) Forest Division, Bimal Prasanna Acharya said that the prohibitory orders have been put in place to ensure the safety of turtles. The trawl operators have been warned against entering the prohibited zone and if they disregard the ban, then it will invite punitive measures.

Acharya said that to compensate for the loss of livelihood of fishermen, they would be provided subsidized rice at Rs 1-a-kg under Rice for Olive Ridley Conservation (RORC) programme. Around 6,000 fishermen families who are directly affected by the fishing ban can avail of this subsidy.