Paradip, Dec. 23: Illegal collection of spawns and mother prawns along the coast has adversely affected the fish yield in the city and its adjoining coastal pockets.

Though catching prawns and spawns is an offence under the Orissa Marine Fishing Regulation Act, 1980, the practice continues unabated following absence of surveillance on part of the state marine fisheries wing.

The indiscriminate catching has triggered acute scarcity of seeds. A group of traders engage poor fishermen in the work to earn hefty profit. The collected spawns are dispatched to Andhra Pradesh and Bengal, where the demand of seeds is high, said a local fishermen community representative Narayan Chandra Haldar.

For the poor fishermen engaged in seeds collection, the income generated out of it is a bonus. The traders rake in profit, while the exercise of collecting spawns and mother prawns is causing irreparable damage to the fish yield.

The fishermen engaged in seed collection are least aware of the fact that the act is illegal. Besides, they do not seem to realise that in the process, they are destroying their own livelihood.

A mother prawn has a capacity to carry about 50,000 to 80,000 prawn seeds during the breeding period. As a result, the demand of the mother prawns is high from June to August. The state government has, therefore, prohibited the catching of baby and mother prawns from the sea, river and other water bodies under the act.

The fisheries officials admitted the prevalence of unlawful practice and pleaded helplessness to curb the trend.

Jagatsinghpur district fisheries officer Gyan Ranjan Samal said: 'We have received reports of unlawful trade of spawn and mother prawns. However, the department doesn't have the manpower to keep tabs on illegal activities. We have requested the district police to help us in conducting raids.'

The department would shortly launch a campaign to make the fishermen aware of the damage they are causing by collecting prawn seeds. The department personnel have also requested the representatives of traditional inland and sea-going fishermen to convince the people to refrain from such exercise, the official said.

Jagatsinghpur additional superintendent of police Madhabananda Sahu said: 'We are ready to assist the fisheries department to curb illegal trade. If the department provides us tip-off, the police would conduct raids to nab the culprits.'