Trawler operators engaged in marine fishing off the coast sought for bringing down of the duration of seven-month-long turtle related legal embargo on fishing activities along the Gahirmatha marine sanctuary. The prohibitory measures on the no-fishing zone demarcated within the sanctuary have hit hard the fishermen. Unless remedial measures are initiated at the earliest, it would spell disaster for the sector, according to the Odisha Marine Fish Producers’ Association. “To revive the sector from dire straits, there ought to be the redrawing of the sanctuary limits. The territory extends from Dhamra to the Rushikulya river mouth with 20km seaward direction. The prohibited water corridors is precariously restricting the fishing activity,” the association’s general secretary Srikant Parida said. The prohibitory orders remains clamped to ensure the safety of olive ridley sea turtles under the Orissa Marine Fishing Regulation Act. “We are not opposed to turtle protection. But, the ban period is too long detrimental to the larger interest of those living on sea-fishing. The prohibition period should be brought down to four months. The fishing prohibition needs to begin from February 1 when turtles usually arrive for mass nesting,” he said. Besides, the turtles are often spotted around seven nautical miles away from the coastline. Thus the demarcated line of the sanctuary needs to be scaled down. “At present, the marine fishing sector is in doldrums with sharp decline in annual yield. Livelihood stakes of over five lakh people employed either directly or indirectly in the sectors is at stake. The governmental step-motherly policy measures would sound death knell for marine fishing sector along the Odisha coast,” he said. About 1,600 medium-sized sea-worthy fishing vessels operate along the coast. Apart from the ban on fishing during turtle nesting season, the vessel operators bear the brunt of invading foreign trawlers. The foreign vessels are running away with sizeable bulk of fish yield. And there is negligible vigil and surveillance on their activities.