10 fishermen held for illegal fishing in Gahirmatha sanctuary

 Kendrapara: Ten fishermen were arrested on Friday for sneaking into the prohibited Gahirmatha marine sanctuary in Odisha's Kendrapara district. Two fishing vessels were also seized by the protection squad, a forest official said.

"The fishing vessels had trespassed into the prohibited sanctuary corridors contravening the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, Orissa Marine Fishing Regulation Act and mandatory rules of marine sanctuary," said Forest Range Officer Subrat Patra. 

The traditional marine fishermen who formed the crew of the impounded vessel were from Balasore, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur districts. They were later remanded to jail custody under provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and Orissa Marine Fishing Regulation Act, 1982, he said. The crackdown on unlawful sea fishing has been stepped up to curb human incursion into the turtles concentration zone.