Kendrapara: 17 held for fishing illegally

Kendrapara: Odisha Forest department personnel arrested 17 fishermen and seized their trawler from Gahirmatha marine sanctuary in Kendrapara district for fishing illegally within the turtle congregation zone.

The fishing trawler, used by the intruders for fishing along the prohibited sanctuary area, was seized by the forest patrol teams on Sunday. The arrested persons are traditional marine fish-ermen of Balasore district. They were later remanded in judicial custody, said Assistant Con-servator of Forest Manas Das.

The fishing vessel had trespassed into prohibited sanctuary corridors contravening the provi-sions of the Wildlife Protection Act, Orissa Marine Fishing Regulation and mandatory rules of marine sanctuary, added the forest officer.

With the latest interception, over 100 fishermen have so far been arrested for acts of intrusion into the marine sanctuary as the Forest department is intent on ensuring the safety of Olive Ridley sea turtles, said forest officials. Seventeen vessels were also seized in the process since November 1 enforcement of the sea-fishing ban, he said.

The State government has clamped a seven-month-long trawler fishing ban along the 20 km stretch Dhamara-Devi river mouth from November 1 in view of the ensuing mass nesting of en-dangered Olive Ridley marine turtles. The fishing prohibition remains enforced round the year in Gahirmatha as it is accorded the status of marine sanctuary.

The Olive Ridley turtles, accorded as schedule-1 animal under the Wildlife Protection Act for its highly threatened status, get entangled in the nets for prolonged periods and die of asphyxia-tion. Turtles also perish in large numbers after getting hit by the fast moving propeller of the fishing trawlers.

More than three lakh lakh Olive Ridley turtles had turned up for their annual sojourn for mass nesting earlier in May 2024. The female turtles emerge from the sea to crawl onto the serene beach, dig pits to lay millions of eggs.