**Kendrapara:** An illegal fishing trawler from Andhra Pradesh was seized by the Indian Coast Guard near Gahiramatha Marine Sanctuary in Kendrapara district on Tuesday and 175 sharks of three endangered species were recovered from it.
Reportedly, the trawler titled ‘Narsimulu’ was intercepted by the Indian Coast Guard of Paradip last night while fishing illegally in the marine sanctuary.
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During inspection of the trawler a total of 175 endangered sharks including 147 Bull, 26 Spot Tail and two Hammerhead sharks were recovered from its storage room.
Besides, 50 fishing hooks, VHF radio, GPS, fishfinder and two quintals of other fish species were seized from the trawler.
The 175 sharks weighed around 70 quintal in total with each weighing around 35 to 45 kilograms. The recovered shark species have been red listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Fishing them is banned on international level.
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After recovery of the sharks, the Indian Coast Guard handed over the trawler and the sharks to the forest officials of Gahiramatha Range.
Seven Andhra fishermen identified as M Apanna, M Ramu, M China, M Chinarmulu, Melapalli Rambabu, Amar Guraya and Gangala Gurbhaya were arrested by the forest department after registering a case under various provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
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They were sent to jail yesterday after their bail was rejected by the Rajnagar JMFC court. The sharks were buried on the premises of Gahiramatha forest range office after post-mortem.