The Odisha Forest Department has started installing buoys to demarcate the boundaries of Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary, the largest rookeries of endangered Olive Ridley Sea turtles. The demarcation would provide a helping hand to the fishermen community to catch fish outside the Gahirmatha Marine sanctuary for the conservation of Olive ridley sea turtles. The Rajnagar Mangrove (forest) and wildlife division today set up a floating buoy at one of the selected points at Gahirmatha Marine sanctuary within the sea through GPS tracking.
As many as 14 floating buoys would be fixed at the selected points phase-wise, iDFO of Rajnagar Mangrove (forest) and wildlife division Bikash Ranjan Dash said. The buoys made with iron and plastics would remain in floating condition at the boundaries of Gahirmatha marine sanctuary. Each buoy has a concrete base weighing about 4 ton and 2-ton steel chain would be fitted to float the buoy. A red colour solar lamp has been fitted on the buoys so that the trawlers would operate outside the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary during night hour and avoid the accident of fishing vessels on installed buoys, the DFO said.
Meanwhile, 5 buoys have already reached Paradip port area and ten other 10 buoys would reach shortly. Notably, the Rajnagar Mangove (forest) and wildlife Division had earlier invited tender for the buoys in the 2018-19 financial year. But later it was cancelled due to a faulty tender invitation process. Later, the PCCF office finalised the tender process in between last December 2019 and January 2020. The Bhubaneswar-based Aditya Engineering would execute the work order to set up the buoys. It may be noted here that, in 2006, Green Peace, an NGO had placed bright yellow buoys in the waters to define boundaries between fishing and non-fishing zones. It was a long-standing demand of the marine fishermen community to demarcate the Gahirmatha Marine sanctuary as the forest personnel very often seized their fish catch and vessel for operating inside the no-fishing zone.