Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant pats fishermen for saving Olive Ridley turtles

Panaji: Days after local fishermen saved five Olive Ridley turtles -- a protected species -- off Goa's coast, after they were trapped in their fishing nets, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has hailed their effort.

Sawant in a tweet, which also has a video of the rescue effort embedded, said that the kind gesture was respectful of the natural ecosystem.

"I am grateful for the kind gesture of my Goan brothers, making our state a better place to live by respecting the nature's ecosystem," Sawant tweeted late on Sunday.

On Friday, a video of four fishermen snipping away at their fishing nets to rescue the trapped turtles at Benaulim beach in South Goa, had gone viral on social media.

The fishermen were subsequently feted by local Nationalist Congress Party MLA from Benaulim assembly constituency Churchill Alemao.

Several beaches in Goa, including Mandrem, Morjim, Agonda and Galgibagh are annually visited by the Olive Ridley turtles, which are a protected species which fall under the Schedule 1 of Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, for laying of eggs.