KENDRAPARA: Forest guards of a turtle patrol vessel reportedly resorted to blank firing to save themselves after coming under attack from fishermen in Gahirmatha marine sanctuary here on Sunday. Nobody was injured in the incident which took place in the sea five km off Babubali Island in the afternoon.
Gahirmatha forester Suresh Prusti said it was an organised attack by the crew members of a fleet of around eight trawlers illegally fishing in the marine sanctuary. “The crew members of these fishing trawlers surrounded us and tried to attack us due to which we resorted to blank firing to disperse them. Subsequently, all the trawlers fled from the No Fishing Zone.”
The forest guards seized a fishing vessel and arrested its driver. Prusti said the government has banned fishing in Gahirmatha for seven months from November 1 to May 31 to save the endangered Olice Ridley turtles.
The Forest department has already seized 14 trawlers and arrested 90 fishermen for illegally fishing in the sanctuary.