KENDRAPARA: Forest officials on Saturday arrested 19 fishermen on charges of illegal fishing in the Gahirmatha marine sanctuary. Around 13.5 quintal fish along with a fishing trawler was also seized from them.
Forest range officer of Gahirmatha Kapilendra Pradhan said they have also seized one GPS, two VHFs and six fishing nets from the trawler. “Marine fishermen have been directed not to fish within 20 km coastline in Gahirmatha from Hukitola to Dhamra. Forest officials had last year demarcated the marine sanctuary by putting 14 buoys to facilitate harmonious nesting of Olive Ridley turtles,” he said adding, with this, around 96 marine fishermen have been arrested since November. The forest officer further informed that all the accused were remanded in judicial custody after their bail pleas were rejected.
Meanwhile, the fishermen community termed the arrest as illegal. “All these 19 fishermen caught the fish beyond the sanctuary boundary after spending three days in the sea. They were arrested while returning to the fishing jetty near Barunei river mouth. It is high time the authorities provide us a passage in the sea at Barunei river mouth for entering the water body because it is not possible for us to enter it from the nearby fishing harbour at Paradip due to heavy siltation at the bottom of the fishing harbour,” said Narayan Haldar, president of Odisha Mastyajibi Forum.
He added that boats often hit the bottom during low tide periods, resulting in damage. “Many fishing boats enter the sea near the Barunei river mouth to reach safer places in the coast during bad weather, cyclones and other emergency periods but the forest officials arrest them illegally on charges of intruding the prohibited zone of the marine sanctuary area,” Haldar said.