Kendrapara: The forest personnel of Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary Thursday arrested seven fishermen after intercepting their trawler on the charge of fishing in the prohibited area of the sanctuary.
According to Subrat Patra, the ranger, a forest patrolling team came across a mechanised fishing vessel in the prohibited zone, 6 km away from Hukitola. The team intercepted the Balaramagadi-base trawler and made the arrests. The forest personnel also seized six fishing nets and navigation equipment.
The arrested fishermen were identified as Gouranga Parida (37), Aswini Manna (40), Mukunda Sahoo (34), Tapas Gudia (36), Shesadhar Das, Bhaskar Patra (37) and Jatadhari Malik (36).
They were produced in a local court and remanded into jail custody, said the ranger.
Since April this year, 75 fishermen have been arrested while 14 trawlers have been seized on the charge of fishing illegally in the sanctuary.
With the Olive Ridley sea turtles having started arriving at Gahirmatha, the world’s largest rookery of the species, for their annual nesting and breeding season, the forest personnel have tightened patrolling, said DFO of Rajnagar mangrove (forest) and wildlife division. PNN