A Coast Guard vessel. Telegraph picture

Paradip, Nov. 6: In the first mid-sea crackdown since enforcement of the prohibitory order on sea fishing on November 1, at least seven marine fishermen were taken into custody from the Gahirmatha marine sanctuary limits off the Bay of Bengal coast.

The intruders, all from Balasore district, were on a deep-sea trawler and were fishing along the prohibited coastal water territory when a forest patrol vessel intercepted them on Saturday.

The divisional forest officer of Rajnagar mangrove forest division, Manoj Kumar Mahapatra, said: “The turtle surveillance patrols spotted the vessels near Satabhaya-Chinchiri Island off Gahirmatha coast in the Bay of Bengal.

The vessel that was seized by the surveillance was a sea-worthy deep-sea trawler.

The arrested marine fishermen, who hailed from Balasore district, were in possession of mono-filament, which often leads to death of breeding turtles due to entanglement.”

This is the first mid-sea interception for intrusion into prohibited waters for fishing since November 1.

The state government has clamped a fishing ban along the 20km stretch of the Gahirmatha marine sanctuary from November 1 in view of the ensuing mass nesting of the endangered Olive Ridley turtles.

The imposition of prohibition was in accordance with sections 2, 3 and 4 of Orissa Maine Fishing Regulation Act.

Rise in the mortality rate of mating turtles along the coastal water surface led to the ban because the gill nets used by the trawlers prove fatal for the breeding turtles.

The turtles, which are in schedule-1 animals under Wildlife Protection Act for their highly threatened status, get entangled in the nets and often die of suffocation.

A large number of turtles also die after being hit by the fast-moving propellers of fishing trawlers, a forest personnel said.

“To keep a tab on the intrusion of fishing vessels, the forest department has set up 16 watch-and-vigil camps. Sixty-five forest personnel are maintaining round-the-clock vigil to stop trawler intrusion and create a hospitable environment for the marine animals. The patrolling exercise is being carried out in a coordinated manner by the Coast Guard (Paradip), state marine fisheries and marine wing of state police,” said divisional forest officer Mahapatra.