38 held for illegal fishing off Karwar

Karwar: The Indian Coast Guard took into custody 38

fishermen

for their alleged involvement in illegal fishing

off Karwar

in the early hours of Tuesday. It also seized two

purse seine boats

which were fitted with high capacity generators and bright electric bulbs to attract fish.

Light fishing is banned

as it led to the

extinction of many fish species

in the west coast. In this type of fishing, the fish get attracted to the light fitted to boats and are caught using heavy nets.

Of the 39 fishermen, one is from Karwar and four from

Ankola

. The rest are from other state, said

fisheries department

officials. They were later handed over to the

Coastal Security Police

. The seized boats -- Sea Rose and Concip – belong to

Betul in Goa

.

The Coast Guard was on high alert after complaint by local fishermen that boats from outside the state were enter the

waters of Karnataka

to carry out illegal fishing.