Kendrapara: Forest personnel have arrested 30 marine fishermen and confiscated five sea-worthy vessels in the past 48 hours from Gahirmatha marine sanctuary.
Seven fishermen were arrested today on charges of carrying out unlawful fishing activities in the prohibited sea corridors, while 23 such intruders were nabbed on Sunday. The vessels have been seized by the forest department's patrolling squads, said a forest official.
The arrested fishermen were natives of Dhamra, Balramgadi and Kharinasi villages of neighbouring Bhadrak, Balasore and Kendrapara districts, said the official. However, the accused said that they were not aware that there was a fishing ban even after the turtle-nesting season.
Prohibition on sea fishing remains enforced round the year within the marine sanctuary limits. However, sea patrolling is stepped up within the sanctuary water territory between November and May every year in view of the annual mass-nesting season of endangered olive ridley turtles.
The vessels had trespassed into the prohibited corridors contravening provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, the Orissa Marine Fishing Regulation Act and the sanctuary's rules. The accused were charged under sections 27 and 29 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and the Orissa Marine Fishing Regulation Act, 1982, and were forwarded to jail custody on Tuesday.
More than 300 fishermen have been arrested and 62 fishing vessels seized in the past one year for sneaking into the sanctuary limits.
The vessels' crew and the fishermen have been warned not to venture into the sanctuary even though the turtle-nesting season is over. Fishing is unlawful in the marine sanctuary throughout the year. "The fishermen and trawler owners mostly thought that the ban remains enforced when turtles arrive for breeding and nesting. They have been sensitised on the restrictions imposed on human activities in the sanctuary," said Rajnagar mangrove (wildlife) forest divisional officer Bimal Prasanna Acharya.
During 2016-17, around 9.75 lakh olive ridley turtles gathered to lay eggs along Odisha coast from March 16 to 23.
