Tension broke out at Mandapam Station of Indian Coast Guard (ICG) here as local fishermen staged a protest on Tuesday against the detention of four fishermen by the ICG on the charge of fishing sea cucumber, an endangered species protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act.
The ICG personnel on patrol intercepted a fishing boat and found that the fishermen were in possession of sea cucumber and indulged in catching the banned endangered species.
They detained the fishermen with 15 pieces of sea cucumbers, weighing around 1.5 kg, and seized their fishing boat.
After handing over the boat to Fisheries Department, the Coast Guard personnel brought the fishermen to the station for interrogation when local fishermen and the family members of the detained persons staged a protest.
They continued the protest till late on Tuesday evening even as the ICG handed over the fishermen to the Forest Department for further action.
Deepak S Belgi, Wildlife Warden of the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park, said the fishermen would be produced before a magistrate court for remand.
Though the number was meagre, it was an offence to catch the species, he said, adding as sea cucumber was a protected species the Forest Department had no option but to produce the fishermen before the court for remanding, he said.
‘Inadvertently caught’
The agitating fishermen said they inadvertently caught the sea cucumber and before throwing them back into the sea the Coast Guard personnel detained them. They claimed that the detained fishermen were genuine and never indulged in illegal activities.
