Forest personnel on Thursday arrested 32 fishermen for sneaking into the prohibited Gahirmatha marine sanctuary. Since the enforcement of sea-fishing ban from November 1, as many as 373 fishermen have been held and 52 sea-worthy vessels seized. Four fishing vessels engaged in unlawful fishing activity within the Gahirmatha marine sanctuary were seized by the protection squad on Wednesday.”The vessels had trespassed into the prohibited sanctuary contravening provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, Orissa Marine Fishing Regulation Act and the marine sanctuary rules,” said Gahirmatha forest range officer Subrat Patra. The crackdown of unlawful sea fishing has been stepped up to ensure the security of the olive ridley turtles’ concentration zone. The traditional marine fishermen who formed the crew of the impounded vessel were from Balasore, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur districts. Four sea-worthy patrolling vessels were pressed into service with a contingent of 50 armed policemen to intercept the fishing trawlers in the Gahirmatha sanctuary’s protected areas. “The operation to stop unlawful trawling to ensure the turtles’ safety is being conducted by the coast guard, forest personnel, police and the fisheries department,” said Rajnagar mangrove (wildlife) divisional forest officer Bimal Prasanna Acharya.
2018 The Telegraph