Whom to save—turtles or humans?

Kendrapara: Environmental laws have helped save Olive Ridley turtles in Orissa's Gahirmatha marine sanctuary from extinction. But efforts to save the turtles have dealt a death knell for local fishermen.

One of the many families afflicted by the environment laws is that of 51-year-old Buddhananda Saraswati, who committed suicide on Thursday.

The only bread earner, Buddhananda had taken a loan of Rs 50,000 but could not repay it. A prosperous fisherman once, he became too poor to feed his family of eight because of the ban on fishing in the area.

"We had four boats and 23 acres of agriculture land. Now all's gone. I have lost my husband due to these turtles," says Buddhananda's widow, Basanti.

It's not Buddhananda alone. Six fishermen have committed suicide in this area over the last two years. Some have even gone insane.

In 1998, a 60 km coastline in Kendrapara and 20 km inside the sea territory was notified as Gahirmatha Marine sanctuary for the Olive Ridley turtles.

Fishing was banned for five months during the turtles' nesting period. This affected over 20,000 fishermen. But the Orissa forest department denies stopping traditional fishing.

"This is a sanctuary area and so fishing is banned. But we allow traditional fishermen to fish if they do not use motor boats, which are fatal for the turtles," says Chief Wildlife Warden, S C Mohanty.

The fishermen community alleges that it has become a fashion for many environmentalists to speak for Olive Ridley turtles without addressing the fishermen problems.

They say if the situation continues, it would lead to further deaths of fishermen in future. But the question remains—how does one save both man and the animal?

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