Kendrapara: Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary personnel led by Srirampad Arabinda Mishra, ACF-cum-range in-charge, Monday intercepted a Dhamra-based fishing trawler for illegally catching fish in the restricted congregation zone of the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles near Ekakula.
The forest personnel recovered three Olive Ridley turtles, including a dead one, from the trawler and seized two quintals of fish catch, 16 fishing nets, a GPS machine, a VHF set and fish finder.
Ten fishermen were arrested for illegally fishing in the ‘no fishing Zone’ by trespassing into the sanctuary, said Bimal Prasanna Acharya, DFO of Rajnagar mangrove (forest) and wildlife division.
The two turtles were later released in the water, while the dead one was sent for post-mortem to the wildlife division office. The carcass was buried after autopsy.
The turtle might have got killed after getting entangled in the fishing net of the trawler and being dragged to a distance, said the ACF.
The arrested fishermen were identified as Sapan Kumar Dutta, Mithun Mandal, Subas Ray, Barun Mandal, Susant Ray, Gautam Sahu, Madhab Khanda, Bajendra Patra, Gobinda Patra and Jhadeswar Jana. The arrested fishermen belonged to Manjulapalli, Ananatakeshari, Chanrakola, Pattaparia and Udyana villages under Talachua marine police limits.
They were produced in the JMFC court of Rajnagar under Sections 9, 27, 29 and 39 of the Wildlife Protection Act and are punishable under Section 51 of the Act, Mishra said, adding they were remanded into jail custody after their bail pleas were rejected by the court.
The seized trawler belonged to Dhamara-based fish mafia, Niranjan Mandal. He has 14 trawlers and is accused of habitually violating the Wildlife Protection Act, the ACF said, adding several times in the last two years his trawlers had been seized by forest personnel of Gahirmatha.
The forest personnel in the ongoing season have intercepted seized 74 fishing vessels, including gillnetters, and arrested 640 fishermen for illegally catching fish in the sanctuary. More than Rs.65 lakh of revenue has been generated by auctioning the seized fish catch, Mishra said.
According to official sources, 788 carcasses of Olive Ridley turtles reportedly washed ashore in Gahirmatha in 2017-18. In 2018-19, 580 dead turtles were reportedly found on the golden beaches of Gahirmatha till February 10.
PNN