Rajnagar: A Forest department patrolling team arrested 17 fishermen for trespassing into the Gahirmatha marine sanctuary in Kendrapara district in the wee hours of Tuesday.
The area has been banned for fishing as it is the favourite nesting place for the Olive Ridley turtles.
The ‘gillnetter’ boat ‘Maa Srabani’ which the fishermen were using was also seized. Three VHF wireless systems, an identical number of fishing nets and one fishfinder machine were also seized.
The team led by range officer Pradosh Kumar Maharana, found that the ‘gillnetter boat’ was fishing illegally five kilometres inside the banned area, while they were patrolling the area. They seized the boat and arrested the fishermen.
PNN