Kendrapara: Thirty fishermen have been arrested for allegedly carrying out illegal fishing activity in Gahirmatha marine sanctuary in Odisha’s Kendrapara district, which is the world’s largest nesting beach for Olive Ridley tutles, officials said Tuesday.
Five fishing vessels used in the prohibited sanctuary area, where fishing is prohibited, were also seized by the forest patrol team Monday, officials said.
The fishing vessel had trespassed into the prohibited sanctuary corridors contravening the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, Orissa Marine Fishing Regulation Act (OMFRA) and the mandatory rules of marine sanctuary, forest department officials said.
This comes on the heels of the arrest of 41 fishermen over the past one week for violating the provisions of OMFRA and six fishing vessels used by them were confiscated.
Fishing has been prohibited in the area as Olive Ridley turtles, which have been accorded the status of schedule-1 animal under the Wildlife Protection Act for its highly threatened status, get entangled in the fishing nets and die of asphyxiation. The turtles also perish in large numbers after getting hit by the fast moving propellers of the fishing trawlers and crafts, forest personnel said.
To save the turtles five forest divisions in the state have been equipped with high speed boats, trawlers and support boats for intercepting illegal fishing activities in the zones marked as their habitation, the officials said.
In 2020 a total 38 fishing trawlers were seized and 202 fishermen were arrested for unlawful fishing activity in the area. That year around 3.5 lakh turtles had turned up at Gahirmatha nesting ground from March 10 to March 24 for mass nesting.
The Olive Ridley turtles turn up in millions for mass nesting along the Odisha coast every year anytime between February to March. Apart from Gahirmatha, these aquatic animals turn up at Rushikulya river mouth and Devi river mouth for mass nesting.
PTI