Kendrapara: An illegal fishing trawler from Andhra Pradesh was seized by the Indian Coast Guard near Gahiramatha Marine Sanctuary in Kendrapara district Wednesday and 250 sharks of three endangered species were recovered from it.
Reportedly, the trawler titled ‘Narsimulu’ was intercepted by the Indian Coast Guard of Paradip last night while fishing illegally in the marine sanctuary. The Indian Coast Guard also arrested seven fishermen for poaching the marine species near Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary off Odisha Coast, an official said.
During inspection of the trawler a total of 250 endangered sharks including 147 Bull, 26 Spot Tail and two Hammerhead sharks were recovered from its storage room. Besides, 50 fishing hooks, VHF radio, GPS, fishfinder and two quintals of other fish species were seized from the trawler.
The 250 sharks weighed around 70 quintal in total with each weighing around 35 to 45 kilograms. The recovered shark species have been red listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Fishing them is banned on international level.
After recovery of the sharks, the Indian Coast Guard handed over the trawler and the sharks to the forest officials of Gahiramatha Range.
The seven Andhra fishermen have been identified as M Apanna, M Ramu, M China, M Chinarmulu, Melapalli Rambabu, Amar Guraya and Gangala Gurbhaya. They are arrested by the forest department after registering a case under various provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
They were sent to jail yesterday after their bail was rejected by the Rajnagar JMFC court. The sharks were buried on the premises of Gahiramatha forest range office after post-mortem.
“We intercepted the trawler on the night of January 22 within the marine sanctuary and found around 250 dead Bull, Spot Tail and Hammerhead sharks from the its storage room,” said Bhutanath Mahato, Coast Guard Commandant of Paradip.
It is suspected that the arrested persons were running an export racket as the trade in shark fins (removing the fins while the shark is alive), which are in high demand for culinary use in many countries.
In India, sharks are prohibited for export.
To save sharks, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change listed ten species in Schedule-I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, thereby according them the highest degree of protection.
Since 2013, India has banned all types of shark finning. A rule by the Ministry of Environment also says that any possession of shark fins that are not naturally attached to the body of the shark, would amount to hunting of a Schedule I species.
It is important to keep in mind that when shark population decreases, a ripple effect can impact the ocean ecosystem.
PNN