With turtle mortalities due to illegal fishing spiralling out of control, Greenpeace today presented the Orissa government with a clear ‘upper limit’ target for turtle mortality along the coast from Paradip to Chilika. Criticising the government for failing to solve a recurring tragedy, Greenpeace demanded that the funds recently released by the Centre be utilised to undertake effective patrolling to prevent illegal trawling. As of 31st January, 2,970 turtle carcasses have been counted along this stretch of the coast. Greenpeace is challenging the government to reduce the current rate of turtle mortalities by 20%, at the very least until the end of April 2008(1).
