Bhubaneswar: Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment and Fisheries Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain Thursday disbursed financial assistance of more than Rs 22 crore to 15,037 households dependent on fishing as livelihood support during the fishing ban on account of Olive Ridley turtle conservation. The assistance to families was provided under the government’s ‘livelihood support to marine fishermen during fishing ban period for Olive Ridley turtle conservation’ scheme.
With a total financial assistance of Rs 22 crore 55 lakh, each fishing family got Rs 15,000 in assistance. Among the 15,037 families, 423 are from Jagtsingpur, 6,773 from Kendrapara, 3,450 from Puri, 3,638 are from Ganjam, and 753 families from Bhadrak, who are suffering livelihood losses due to the ban imposed on fishing for conservation of Olive Ridley turtles.
Addressing the meeting organised at Krushi Bhawan, Swain said that the government has introduced the state plan scheme ‘livelihood support to marine fishermen during fishing ban period for Olive Ridley turtle conservation’ to provide financial assistance to affected families to strengthen their livelihood during the fishing ban period. “Odisha is one of the most important maritime states in the country endowed with a 480km long coastline.
About 5.18 lakh of marine fishers belonging to 1.15 lakh families solely depend on fishing for their livelihood,” said the minister. The state’s coastline is known as a breeding ground for the rare Olive Ridley turtle. Every year they come from thousands of miles to the Odisha coast to lay eggs. “To protect their spawning process, fishing restrictions are imposed from November 1 to May 31 every year near the Rushikulya river mouth of Ganjam, Dhamara river mouth of Bhadrak, Devi river mouth of Puri and Jagatsinghpur and throughout the year in the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary of Kendrapara,” added the minister. The state government has increased the livelihood assistance from time to time considering the demands made by fishermen through different forums. The amount was increased to Rs 7,500 in 2017-18 and again to Rs 15,000 in 2023.
ARINDAM GANGULY, OP