Ganjam: Forest department officials here seized a fishing trawler from Paradip and arrested six fishermen on board for fishing illegally near Rushikulya river mouth in Ganjam district, Wednesday. The arrested fishermen were identified as Ramakanta Swain, Bhudeb Mandal, Sharat Mallick, Kamalkant Mallick, Nimain Charan Rout, and Sabanta Pradhan. All the arrests were handed over to the Fishery department. 10 nets including three prawn nets and seven big fishing nets were also seized from the trawler.
In the presence of the Fishery department officials, total 465 kg fish were seized from the trawler and given to local fishermen through auction. Khallikote forest ranger Sidhartha Shankar Sahu, Rambha forester Ratna Kumar Behera, forest guard Shiba Charan Tudu, the patrolling squad of the Forest department, and APR police were involved in the raid.
Notably, a seven-month-long fishing ban from November 1 to May 31 is in force at Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary in Kendrapara and near the Rushikulya river mouth in Ganjam district to enable nesting of the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles.