Forest and Fisheries Department officials detained 15 fishermen and two trawlers for allegedly trespassing into a prohibited zone near Astarang at the Devi river mouth in Puri district on Saturday.
The two trawlers of the fishermen were alos seized.
The area has been declared no-entry zone to protect the endangered Olive Ridley turtles whose mass nesting season has begun.
The State Government imposes the seven-month long ban on fishing activities, from November 1 to May 31, to ensure that the turtles don’t get entangled in fishing nets or come under the trawlers during their breeding season.
The ban is clamped every year at Gahirmatha coast and within 20 km from the mouths of rivers Dhamara, Devi and Rusikulya.
The ban is imposed in accordance with Sections 2, 7 and 4 of the Orissa Marine Fishing Regulation Act (OMFRA), 1982 and provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
