23rd Jan., 2019


Indian Coast Guard seized a trawler carrying 250 endangered baby sharks and arrested seven fishermen aboard the vessel for poaching the marine species on the night of January 22, within Odisha's Gahiramatha Marine Sanctuary in Kendrapara district. 

“We intercepted the trawler 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.

All the seven arrested fishermen were booked under the provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, added Mahato.

The shark population in the waters off Odisha’s coast is on the verge of extinction as every day, a large number of marine fishermen illegally kill hundreds of them, particularly baby sharks, said Biswajit Mohanty, a noted environmentalist and the secretary of the Wildlife Society of Odisha (WSO).

“Many traders from West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and other areas slyly take quintals of baby sharks from the state under the very noses of the fishery and forest officials. A large number of local fishermen earn extra money by supplying sharks clandestinely in fish packages,” added Mohanty.

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