OneWorld.net (U.S.)

Endangered Olive Ridley turtles continue to die in large numbers, with more than 2,000 turtles being washed ashore off the coast of Orissa in the past three months, according to the environmental pressure group Greenpeace. The group says illegal fishing, which thrives in the face of continued government inaction, is to blame for the wildlife catastrophe, which would lead to the annihilation of these turtles within a decade.

Releasing I witness, a report on the mass deaths of Olive Ridley turtles, Greenpeace said as many as 2,127 dead turtles had washed ashore in the Devi region alone. “This will be just a fraction of the population killed every year, as many carcasses are never washed ashore,” Greenpeace India campaigner Ashish Fernandes said on April 4.

He said the deaths along the Orissa coast were reported by a Greenpeace monitoring team from Devi , 100 km east of Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa. Greenpeace said a vast majority of the deaths were caused by illegal fishing, particularly trawling, in protected no-trawling zones near Bandar fisheries harbour in the region. The endangered sea turtles were caught in nets or mangled by engine propellers.

SOURCE: Infochange India