Every winter, hundreds of thousands of Olive Ridley turtles arrive on Odisha’s coast to breed and nest. Protecting the endangered species, however, comes at a cost to fishing communities, which must observe a seven-month fishing ban in the world’s most largest marine turtle nesting grounds. This year, the Odisha forest department’s annual ban took effect on November 1 and will remain in force until May 31, 2027.
Two of the state’s major breeding grounds are Gahirmatha beach in Kendrapara district and Rushikulya beach in Ganjam district. The turtles arrive in coastal waters around November to mate, while females come ashore to lay eggs, usually in March.
In 1997, the government declared Gahirmatha a marine sanctuary to protect the turtles. Fishing is prohibited within 20 kilometres of the coastline in the sanctuary, which covers 1,435 square km of sea between Hukitola and Dhamara. In 2023, the forest department demarcated its maritime boundaries by installing 14 buoys. Forest officials also patrol the waters to monitor turtle movements and prevent illegal fishing.
The restrictions have helped protect the turtles' nesting grounds. In 2025, between March 5 and March 10, an estimated 606,933 Olive Ridley turtles nested in the sanctuary. In 2026, however, the mass nesting event, known as an arribada, did not take place along Odisha's coast. Chitrasen Jena, the forest range officer of the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary, told Down To Earth (DTE) that the absence of an annual arribada was a natural phenomenon and did not necessarily indicate a decline in the turtle population.
“No mass nesting took place in 1982, 1988, 1997 and 2002. The absence of an arribada in a particular year does not necessarily indicate a decline in the turtle population. Untimely rainfall, continuous erosion of nesting sites and other environmental factors are among the major reasons for the phenomenon. Besides, turtles generally do not come ashore to lay eggs during new moon and full moon periods, as high tides during these phases cover the nesting grounds on the beaches,” Jena said.
The forest department nevertheless expects large numbers of turtles to arrive at Gahirmatha for mass nesting this season.
“We have established 14 turtle protection camps, including four offshore camps on Madali, Sasanipada, Ekakula and Babubali islands. We have also deployed four patrolling boats to prevent illegal fishing and protect the turtles in Gahirmatha. The marine police at Jamboo, Talachua and Tantiapala villages in Kendrapara district, Paradip port in Jagatsinghpur district, and coastguards will help forest officials protect the turtles,” Mr Jena said.
Odisha is home to an estimated 50 per cent of the global Olive Ridley population and about 90 per cent of India's population of the species. The turtles are known to return to their natal beaches to reproduce and lay eggs.
“The turtles repeat the trek every year, always returning to the same beach to lay their eggs and reproduce where they were born,” said Hemant Rout, a turtle researcher and president of the Gahirmatha Marine Turtles and Mangrove Conservation Society (GMTMCS), speaking to DTE.
A case for turtle excluder devices
Alongside seasonal fishing restrictions, the forest department has made it compulsory for fishing trawlers to install turtle excluder devices (TEDs) in their nets. A TED is an escape mechanism fitted into a trawl net. Smaller marine animals, such as shrimp, pass through the grid and remain in the net, while larger animals, including sea turtles, are directed by the angled grid towards an escape opening. When properly installed and used, TEDs allow turtles caught in fishing nets to escape.
In October, the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) distributed 1,200 TEDs free of charge to trawler owners in Odisha, urging fishers to adopt the equipment. The initiative comes amid restrictions imposed by the US in 2019 on imports of wild-caught shrimp from India, linked to concerns about the use of TEDs in Indian fishing vessels.
Under Section 609 of the US Public Law 101-162, shrimp and shrimp products cannot be imported from countries that have not been certified by the US Department of State as having adequate measures to prevent the incidental capture of sea turtles. The certification process takes account of whether fishing fleets use TEDs that meet the technical specifications of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The US has required TEDs in its own waters since 1987, according to MPEDA officials.
The restrictions have cost India an estimated Rs 4,500 crore (US $550 million), according to figures cited by MPEDA. The American market historically offered higher prices for Indian wild-caught shrimp than alternative destinations. In 2018-19, the average export unit value was $9.87 per kg in the US market, compared with $6.93 per kg in other markets. After the restrictions, the average unit value of India's wild-caught shrimp exports fell to $5.26 per kg in 2023-24.
India's wild-caught shrimp exports declined from 153,286 tonnes in 2018-19 to 65,882 tonnes in 2023-24. In 2018-19, exports to the US alone amounted to 33,497 tonnes, or about 22 per cent of India's total wild-caught shrimp exports.
The loss of the American market, combined with lower prices elsewhere, has reduced earnings for fishers and others in the seafood supply chain. Landing prices for black tiger, white shrimp, flower shrimp, karikadi and poovalan shrimp have fallen by Rs 100-200 per kg since the restrictions took effect, said Subhrakanta Mohapatra, MPEDA's state co-ordinator in Bhubaneswar.
“Each TED costs Rs 28,000. We purchased them using funds from the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY). Several fishers are reluctant to install TEDs, fearing that the devices could reduce their fish catch by 10 to 20 per cent. However, according to the authority's studies and demonstrations, the actual reduction in catch is only 1 to 5 per cent,” Mohapatra told DTE. “We are organising awareness meetings among fishermen on the use of TEDs to save the seafood sector. It is time the fishers installed TEDs in trawl nets to help lift the US embargo on Indian seafood, particularly shrimp,” he added.