Global News - May 2008
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Indian authorities concerned over sea cucumber poaching
Fri 09 May 2008 14:00 UK — Asia,Marine Wildlife
Indian authorities are growing increasingly worried about marine poaching in the waters surrounding the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal.
The local ndtv.com site reported that foreign poachers are targeting rare sea cucumbers in the seas around Havelock Island.
Khajan Singh, the chief conservator of forests in the region, explained to the website that the sea cucumber commanded high prices on the black market and this was encouraging poachers to enter the Indian waters in search of the creatures.
In particular, he warned that gangs from Indonesia, Burma and Thailand were heading to the area in a bid to catch the endangered sea cucumbers.
Ashok Chand, the superintendent of police for Andaman, explained that over 400 poachers had been arrested in the past few months.
However, he stressed to the site that it was very hard to effectively police the waters.
"Our main problem is that we have a huge coast line and not enough sea-worthy boats. We need them to get to the poachers fast," he concluded.
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