Indian Coast Guard seizes 2 tons of endangered sea cucumber worth Rs 8 crore

The boat along with seized sea cucumbers was brought to Mandapam and handed over to forest officials. 

Chennai: Based on a tip-off, the Indian Coast Guard team at Mandapam, Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu seized a 2-ton shipment of marine species Sea Cucumber, that was being smuggled via Indian waters. Early on Sunday, Coast Guard teams in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay areas tracked the boat and laid a cordon to block the suspect vessel at sea.

Sea cucumbers are an important constituent of the marine ecosystem as they play an important role in maintaining the health of the ecosystem. In India, Sea cucumber is treated as an endangered species listed under schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.

The boat which was found anchored 15kms off the Vedalai South locality in Mandapam was boarded and searched by an ICG team. The boarding team of ICG Hovercraft H-183 recovered 200 gunny bags of sea cucumber weighing 2000kg or 2 tons.  The boat along with seized sea cucumbers was brought to Mandapam and handed over to forest officials. The value of seized sea cucumbers is said to be around Rs.8 crores.