Forest officials of the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary on Thursday seized a Paradip-based mechanised fishing vessel ‘Raghubir’ and arrested six fishermen for illegally catching fish after trespassing into the prohibited zone of the sanctuary, informed Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary Ranger Subrat Kumar Patra.
While patrolling at night at Gahirmatha Sea coast the patrolling team found a fishing trawler allegedly catching fish illegally at the prohibited zone of Gahirmatha Marine sanctuary near Agarnashi. The team chased the trawler ‘Raghubir’ and seized the vessel. The forest personnel also seized a quintal of fish catch, fishing nets and other fishing equipments from the seized trawler.
They also managed to arrest six fishermen. The arrested fishermen were produced before the local court under wildlife protection Act, 1972on Friday and they were remanded to judicial custody after their bail petitions were rejected.
Notably, the forest personnel have seized two fishing trawlers along with more than three quintals of fish catch and arrested 13 fishermen for fishing illegally at prohibited area within the sanctuary since November 1 after the prohibition imposed at Gahirmatha Marine sanctuary by the Forest Department to protect the endangered marine turtles.